Bernie Ecclestone, the 83-year-old supremo of Formula One, this week brought his empire-threatening bribery trial to an end by agreeing to pay $100m to the German court that was hearing the case. That is right: he paid off the state of Bavaria to escape a bribery charge.

The legal outcome is scandalous, and is almost matched by the absurdity of Mr Ecclestone’s defence. He claimed he and his family trust paid $44m to Gerhard Gribkowsky, a former executive of the state-backed bank BayernLB to stop him giving information about Mr Ecclestone’s financial affairs to tax authorities. No, that was not the prosecution case; that was the defence.

It is standard practice for Mr Ecclestone, who has ruled F1 since the late 1970s, when he persuaded the racing teams to give him control of the broadcasting rights and much else, to behave in a breathtaking manner. “No, he can’t possibly get away with that, can he?” people often ask. Oh, yes he can.