A former state finance minister in Germany has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for embezzling funds during the failed sale of the Nurburgring.

Ingolf Deubel was found guilty of 14 counts of embezzlement after the state funded improvement works at the track, which currently hosts alternating German Grands Prix on the Formula 1 calendar.

The track received €330m (£271.5m) from the Rheinland-Pflaz state government in 2012 before being put up for sale the following year.

Deubel was accused of embezzling several hundreds of thousands of Euros as well as risking millions of taxpayers' money, but maintained his innocence throughout the 18-month trial.