Ecclestone apologized for recent comments he made 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 opened up about Putin – with whom the former F1 boss had built a relationship during F1’s visits to the Sochi Autodrom. Speaking about Putin on the ITV show, Ecclestone said: “I’d take a bullet for him. “I’d rather not hurt, but I’d take a bullet because he’s a first-class person and what he’s doing is something he thinks is right, he’s doing it for Russia. “Unfortunately, it’s like a lot of entrepreneurs, certainly like me, we make mistakes from time to time and when you make mistakes you have to do your best to get out of it. The 91-year-old also hinted that blame for the war rested with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 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 very much at odds with the modern values position of our sport.” Ecclestone came forward to apologize for the comments, appearing on Sky to explain his thinking when he made the comments. “It’s probably good for me to get some things off my chest, things that have bothered me about what I’ve said and what people think of what I’ve said,” he said. “So I think often people come out and say things or do things without really thinking too much. I probably did the same. I can understand people thinking I’m defending what he did in Ukraine, which I’m not. “I grew up during the war, the last war, so I know what it’s like and I’m sorry that people in Ukraine have to suffer for something they didn’t do. They have done nothing wrong. “They didn’t start anything and they didn’t do anything. They want to get on with their lives. They want to get to school and try to go to work and earn a living to support the family. So they don’t deserve to suffer. It’s not good for anyone. “I can’t see anyone getting anything out of this and I think they need to come together and come to an agreement. I’m sorry if it’s anything I’ve said that upsets anyone because it certainly wasn’t intended.” With Ecclestone’s comments coming in the same week as three-time F1 World Champion Nelson Piquet hit the headlines for disparaging comments about Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time World Champion expressed his view that aging stars should not be given a platform of the sport whose views do not align with those of the sport at large. He also expressed his dismay at Ecclestone’s comments, saying: “We don’t need more than that, to hear from someone who believes in war, displacing people and killing people and supporting this person (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 weight of the pain. Why; We don’t need to support it but look to the future. “If you don’t have something 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
