F1: Ecclestone mother-in-law reportedly kidnapped

Bernie Ecclestone's mother-in-law has been kidnapped in Sao Paulo and is being held for almost $37 million in ransom, according to reports in the Brazilian publication Veja.

The report claims that Aparecida Schunck, 67, was taken in the Interlagos neighborhood on Friday, and that her captors are demanding 120 million reals ($36.7m) for her return; a sum that is claimed to be the highest in Brazilian history. F1 chief executive Ecclestone's estimated worth is $3.1 billion.

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Schunck is the mother of Ecclestone's third wife Fabiana Flosi (pictured with Ecclestone), whom he met at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2009. The pair married in 2013.

This latest incident is the not the first time that Ecclestone's family has faced a kidnapping threat. In 2011, a UK dental technician named Martin Peckham demanded the equivalent of $260,000 to thwart what he claimed was a kidnapping plot targeting Ecclestone's daughter Tamara. Peckham was caught and jailed for five years.