Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has apologized for the views he expressed regarding Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.
Ecclestone apologized for his recent comments in which he appeared to express support for Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain at the end of June, Ecclestone spoke about Putin – with whom the former F1 boss has struck up a relationship during F1 visits to the Sochi Autodrom.
Speaking about Putin on the ITV show, Ecclestone said: “I would still take a bullet for him.
“I’d rather not be in pain, but I’d still take a bullet because he’s a first-rate guy and what he’s doing is something he believes is the right thing, he’s doing it for Russia.”
“Unfortunately, he’s like a lot of business people, certainly like me, we make mistakes from time to time and when you make mistakes you have to do the best you can to get out of it.
The 91-year-old also hinted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was to blame for the war, saying he “absolutely” could have done more to prevent it.
The comments prompted F1 to quickly issue a statement to distance itself from the former boss’s comments: “The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to the contemporary values stance of our sport.”
Ecclestone came out to apologize for the comments, appearing on Sky to explain his thinking when making the comments.
“It’s probably good for me to get some things off my chest, things that worried me about what I said and what people thought about what I said,” he said.
“So I think a lot of times people go out and say things or do things without thinking a lot. I probably did the same. I can understand people thinking I’m defending what he did in Ukraine, but I’m not.
“I was brought up during the war, the last war, so I know what it’s like and I feel sorry for the people in Ukraine who have to suffer for something they didn’t do. They have done nothing wrong.
“They haven’t started anything and they haven’t done anything. They want to get on with their lives. They want to go to school and try to work and earn a living to support the family. So they don’t deserve to suffer. It’s not good for anyone.
“I don’t see anyone getting anything out of this and I think they need to get together and come to an agreement. I’m sorry if anything I said upset anyone because it was definitely not intended.”
With Ecclestone’s comments coming in the same week that three-time Formula One world champion Nelson Piquet hit the headlines with disparaging comments about Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion expressed his view that the sport’s aging stars should not be given a platform. whose views do not coincide with those of the sport as a whole.
He also expressed his dismay at Ecclestone’s comments, saying: “We don’t need any more of this, to hear from someone who believes in war and displacing people and killing people, and supporting this man (Putin) is beyond me.
“I can’t believe I heard that. This will set us back decades and we have yet to see the true severity of the pain. Why? We don’t need to support this, but look to the future.
“If you have nothing positive to contribute, don’t give them space.”
Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has apologized for controversial views he expressed about Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/gKeQQ2GIvB
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 9, 2022
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