Bernie Ecclestone has issued an apology for his contentious remarks regarding Ukrainian War and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The former F1 executive was scheduled to miss tomorrow’s Austrian Grand Prix as a result of the criticism after calling Putin a “first class person” in an interview on Good Morning Britain last week.
However, the billionaire apologized and clarified his position on the war in a statement to Sky Sports News today.
It would definitely be beneficial for me to air some other issues that have been plaguing me regarding what I said and what people took from what I said, he said.
“I believe that people frequently act or speak without giving their opinions much thought,”
I most likely did the same. People may mistakenly believe that I support what he did in Ukraine, which is not the case.
“I grew up through the last war, so I understand what it’s like.”
Therefore, I feel bad for the Ukrainian people who must suffer because of something they did not do. They haven’t broken any laws. Nothing was started by them. They wish to continue living their lives.
They want the children to attend school, strive to get employment, and make a living in order to support the family.
Therefore, they don’t deserve to suffer. It’s not beneficial to anyone. I don’t see how anyone will benefit from this, and I believe they should come to a compromise.
And I’m sorry if anything I said offended anyone because that was definitely not my intention.
After a strange interview with Good Morning Britain this week, he apologized.
Ecclestone incited uproar when he made fun of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, claiming that he used to be a comic and seemed to “want to continue being one” prior to the Ukraine war.
The invasion “might have ended differently,” he continued, if Zelensky had “spoken with Putin.”
When questioned by journalist Kate Garraway about whether he thought Zelensky’s actions, as opposed to Putin’s, might have changed to prevent conflict, Ecclestone responded, “Absolutely.”
He continued: “He thought what he was doing was the right thing for Russia.
‘Unfortunately, like many business people, and certainly like myself, we occasionally make mistakes, and when you’ve made the mistake, you have to do your best to get out of it.’
The other guy in Ukraine, he said, “I think if it had been performed properly… He was a comedian in the past, and from what I can see, he wants to stay in that line of work.
I believe that if he had given it any thought, he would have made a significant effort to communicate with Mr. Putin, who is a reasonable person and would have listened to him and probably taken action.
Ecclestone was questioned by host Ben Shephard over the thousands of innocent lives lost in Ukraine, asking: “You can’t explain that, surely?”
I don’t, Ecclestone retorted. Look at how often America has expanded into nations that have nothing to do with America; it wasn’t done on purpose.
And I’m fairly convinced Ukraine could have done so if they had chosen to exit the situation correctly, he continued.
Ecclestone responded, “No,” when asked if he had a chance to discuss with Putin “what a mess” the situation is and persuade him to reconsider his course of action. He has probably given that some thought himself. He most likely doesn’t require reminding.
“I’m sure he now regrets starting this whole mess, but it didn’t start as a fight,” I said.
His former coworkers disavowed his comments without delay, and F1 issued a statement claiming they were “in very striking contrast to the viewpoint of the modern values of our sport.”
It follows Russian assaults on Ukrainian apartment buildings and a mall at the end of June, the latter of which was denounced as a war crime by western officials.
Despite the fact that tens of thousands of innocent people were presumed dead as a result of indiscriminate shelling, Ecclestone said that such civilian casualties were “not intended.”
The billionaire has long admired Putin, and the two have been spotted together at athletic events, frequently laughing or engaged in serious conversation.
Following the debut of the Russian Grand Prix in 2014, their bond grew stronger.
Putin was praised by Ecclestone as being “honorable” and someone who “performed precisely what he stated he was going to do without any arguments” the day after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February of this year.
Ecclestone spoke out on the racism controversy enveloping Formula One this morning from a sunny rooftop in Ibiza, defending Nelson Piquet, 69, after he called Lewis Hamilton the N-word in an interview.
His statements have been strongly criticized, with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss leading the charge, telling GMB: “I believe those words are unusual, simply extraordinary.”
“This is a man who has waged an abhorrent war, involving the systematic rape of women and the targeting of civilians in shopping centers,” she continued.
I think Bernie Ecclestone’s remarks are just extraordinary. Vladimir Putin is obviously toxic, and the prime minister was right to say that.
When they can plainly witness the ‘appalling’ horrors taking place in Ukraine, Ms. Truss said she finds ‘apologists’ for Putin to be ‘very frightening’
The statement from Formula One further stated that Bernie Ecclestone’s remarks were his own personal opinions and were “in sharp contrast to the viewpoint of the modern values of our sport.”
Ecclestone originally offered to take a bullet for Putin, a close friend of his, in 2019. This is not the first time Ecclestone has courted controversy.
Because he is a “nice guy,” he declared at the time that he would “stand in front of a machine gun” to save him.
He said that individuals were making things up and denied any knowledge of his being responsible for the deadly Novichok assault in Salisbury.
“He didn’t do it,” he claimed. He would be far too preoccupied to bother about something like that. These details are made up by storytellers.
On March 4, 2018, the nerve toxin Novichok was used to assassinate former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.
On June 30, Dawn Sturgess, 44, lost her life after coming into contact with a perfume bottle that contained Novichok.
The two suspects, who went by the identities Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, were seen on Salisbury’s surveillance cameras the day before the attack. They later claimed in an interview that they were only passing through to see the cathedral.
The Russian government has consistently denied any participation.
The former F1 executive said that he believed Putin needed to be in charge of Europe and that the sole purpose of the invasion of Crimea was to “put Russia back together.”
He continued, saying, “I would appreciate him ruling Europe.” It couldn’t be worse because we don’t have anyone, right? He follows through on what he promises to do.
I don’t believe in democracy. You require a despot. You declare, “This is what I’m going to do,” as a dictator. It becomes diluted in a democracy.
The Russian President is well-known to be a fan of Mr. Eccelstone, and the two have been spotted together at sporting events.
They were seen talking during the 2014 Russian Grand Prix, and Mr. Eccelstone had previously called Putin a “first-class person.”
Mr. Ecclestone, who stepped down as CEO of Formula One in 2017, has caused controversy before.
When praising Adolf Hitler in the past and calling him a leader who could “get things done,” he was obliged to apologize.
He further claimed that despite having “a lot of power everywhere,” Jews have failed to resolve the banking crisis.
A boycott would be more than justified, according to a spokeswoman for Germany’s Central Council of Jews: “No team should deal with him any more.”
Ecclestone afterwards apologized and referred to himself as “an idiot.”
People who don’t know me believe I support Hitler’s atrocities; those who do know me have told me how foolish I was to articulate my points in such a way that it should have been so widely misunderstood.
He insisted that “things were taken a little bit wrong” and that his praise of the German tyrant was “not what he meant.”
Hitler was able to revive the economy and revive German industry throughout the 1930s, despite the country’s economic catastrophe.
That is all I meant when I said I could count on him to get things done.
I respect strong leadership and politicians who speak the truth to the public and stick to their principles.
I don’t like tyrants who impose terror on their subjects.
He continued in another interview: “Hitler converted a bankrupt nation into a nation that was incredibly strong and it was truly displaying what someone could achieve if they had the power and weren’t required to hold back and refer every five minutes.”
The issue with politicians and democracy is that they are constantly forced to make concessions and are unable to carry out their plans because of resistance. I regret that’s not how it turned out.
Ecclestone mentioned Max Mosley, a personal friend who served as the FIA’s President before taking his own life in May, in the interview with The Times.
He continued by saying Sir Oswald Mosley’s son would make a “great job” as prime minister.
Mosley engaged in a privacy dispute with a Sunday newspaper when it was revealed that he was taking part in what was called a sadomasochistic orgy with Nazi overtones.
Mosley, on the other hand, was praised by Ecclestone for being a good leader with people after a judge eventually determined that there was no proof of the “Nazi motif.”
I don’t believe his past would be an issue.
Mr. Ecclestone was exonerated of corruption allegations in 2014 after making a £60 million payment to a German court.
In Germany, where opponents claimed Ecclestone had been “washed clean” as a result of his “spectacular” payment to a banker, who was accused of receiving a £27 million bribe, the issue has sparked outrage.
Campaigners called it “worrying” to allow the defendant to use his money to halt a criminal investigation.