She Loves Terrorising Me - She Shouts and Throws Plates. I Go and Hide... ; He Thinks He Is a Big Man, but He's a Dwarf

Summary

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In September 1982, Bernie Ecclestone, the undisputed king of Formula 1, spotted a striking, six-foot Croatian model standing with world champion Nelson Piquet in the pits at Italy's Monza race circuit. Her name was Slavica Malic and she was employed by Fila fashions, one of the race's sponsors. 'Get out of here,' Ecclestone ordered the 23-year-old.

'I'm staying here,' she replied brusquely in pidgin English, unaware who she was talking to. 'It's my duty.'

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She Loves Terrorising Me - She Shouts and Throws Plates. I Go and Hide... ; He Thinks He Is a Big Man, but He's a Dwarf

'I don't care. No girls in the pits. Out!' insisted Ecclestone, then 51.

'If you come any nearer, I'll kick you,' she retorted in her thick accent.

Impressed by her feisty response, Ecclestone introduced himself, then invited her for lunch. Slavica later asked a photographer: 'I met this guy who was trying to break my b***s and he said he's in charge of Formula 1. Do you think it's true?' I first met Bernie Ecclestone in 2009, when I started writing my book about his life. I'd replied to Ecclestone's offer of co-operation with the assurance that I would publish any evidence I found of wrongdoing. Ecclestone smiled and said: 'Tom, I'm no angel.'

I enjoyed unprecedented access to Ecclestone, his friends and most of Formula 1's leading personalities.

Ecclestone already had a girlfriend at the time he met Slavica. Tuana Tan had been his lover for 17 years. Without fuss she cooked his meals, laid out his clothes and even squeezed the toothpaste on to the brush in the morning.

For a man who adored the unpredictability of work, his domestic routine never changed. Arriving home, he first cleaned his shoes, then s...

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