Bernie Ecclestone wants Slavica back

What part of the word 'divorce' does the diminutive Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone not understand? On Wednesday, his Croatian-born (former) wife Slavica was granted a decree nisi at the London High Court, so terminating their 24-year marriage, but Bernie appears to be in a serious state of denial about the matter, and suggests today he may be able to rekindle their relationship and perhaps even persuade her to re-marry him.

"I last spoke to her 10 days ago and it's true we're not really talking," Ecclestone, 78, told the Daily Mail. "But who knows? Maybe after she has thought about it, we can get back together.

"In fact, I see no reason at all why we shouldn't even get married again. Other divorced people have - why can't we?" He added: "Everyone who knows Slavica knows there is a crazy side to her, but it's the reason I love her. I thought I would be with her until my 90s, which was when my father died."

But Slavica, 50, a former model, left the family home in Chelsea, west London, last year and seems pretty certain the marriage is done and dusted.

So what's got into old Bernie? Well, the demise of their marriage means that he will now have to instigate a legal battle to wrest back a considerable amount of his reputed £2.4 billion fortune, which, for tax purposes, he unwisely placed in off-shore accounts in his wife's name. As reported here, legal experts claim this is impossible to undo and have predicted that she could walk away with a £1bn settlement. ·