Ecclestone: 'After a financial discussion, he decided to favour Nelson'

Bernie Ecclestone admits in the documentary Lucky! according to German Bild that he has been involved in bribery in the past. The Briton cites the 1981 season, when he was team boss of Brabham, as an example.

Brazilian Nelson Piquet battled for the world title that year in a Brabham car with rival Carlos Reutemann(Williams). Both men remained close throughout the season, allowing them both to become world champions in the final race in Las Vegas.

Ecclestone bribed masseur

In the American city, all the drivers suffered a lot of physical complaints, which caused performance to deteriorate. When Ecclestone saw Argentinian Reutemann talking to a masseur in the pits, he decided to walk over to him.

"After a financial discussion, he decided to favour Nelson," explained Ecclestone. "We won the championship in 1981 and that was the end for Carlos, who stopped racing soon after. I don't know if I ever told him that." A year later, Reutemann drove just two more Grands Prix, after which he quit Formula 1. Piquet remained in the motorsport class until 1991.