Bernie Ecclestone: Soon To Be Not So Supremo?

Okay, I don't know much about the Ecclestones. I know that there's a rather small guy called Bernie, who plays an important role in Formula One. There are two daughters, Tamara and another one who I can't, for the life of me, remember the name of. Then there is Bernie’s wife, Slavica.

While working on a Formula One promotional event in 1984, she met Bernie (and gave him a fake number, not knowing who he was). Also, she is a former model for Armani, and started modeling in the '70s. Between the two of them, there is a 28 year age gap, as well as a language gap. Slavica speaks Croatian and Italian, while Bernie only speaks in his mother tongue of English.

So there is some (alright, barely any), background information. Now to address the entire point of this article. There have been quite a few rumours about a divorce soon to hit the family. It has been reported that Slavica was packing up her things while Bernie was chilling at the Brazilian Grand Prix, and that she has been in contact with divorce lawyers in Switzerland.

Anyone with experience reading the British newspaper probably thinks this will be another normal divorce battle for them to report, where the woman will get a big payout at the end. I can understand why they would think that, having had the Heather Mills – Paul McCartney case shoved down their throat.

But alas, if this divorce does actually happen, it’s going to be Bernie in hot water. As anyone who has lived in a society and not on an alienated island knows, laws are incredibly complex. Bernie knows this, and he also knows a way around them.

Slavica, as a non-Brit, wouldn’t pay as much for her business ventures as Bernie would, so Bernie probably thought himself quite clever when he put the deeds of all the business flotsam and jetsam in her name.

Has the penny dropped yet? If it hasn’t, I’ll put it bluntly here: If Bernie and Slavica were to get divorced, most of the money Bernie has made would rightfully belong to her. That’s going to leave you with more than a slight headache in the morning.

So I put the question to you: Soon to be not so supremo?