Bernie Ecclestone APOLOGISES for controversial comments backing Putin after he sparked outrage

Bernie Ecclestone has apologised for his controversial comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.

The former F1 boss sparked outrage by describing Putin as a ‘first class person’ and that he would take a bullet for the Russian president during an interview on Good Morning Britain last week and was set to miss the Austrian Grand Prix tomorrow as a result of the backlash.

But speaking to Sky Sports News today, the billionaire apologised and clarified his views on the war.

He said: ‘It would probably be good for me to get some things off my chest as well, things that have been bothering me about what I said and what people think I said.

‘I think often people come out and say things or do things without really too much thinking.

‘Probably I did the same. I can understand people thinking I’m defending what he’s done in Ukraine, which I don’t.

‘I was brought up during the war, the last war, so I know what it’s like.

‘So I feel sorry for the people in Ukraine having to suffer for something they haven’t done. They’ve done nothing wrong. They didn’t start anything. They want to get on with their lives.

‘They want the kids to go to school and try and go to work and earn a living to keep the family going.

‘So they don’t deserve to have to suffer. It’s not good for anybody. I can’t see anybody getting anything out of this and I think they should get together and get an agreement.

‘And I’m sorry if anything I’ve said has upset anybody because it certainly wasn’t intended.’

His apology comes after a bizarre interview with Good Morning Britain last week. 

Ecclestone sparked outrage when he took a shot at Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he was a comedian before the Ukraine war and appeared to ‘want to continue being one.’ 

He then insisted the invasion ‘could have ended differently’ if Zelensky had ‘talked with Putin’. 

When pressed by journalist Kate Garraway, who asked if he believed a change in Zelensky’s actions, rather than Putin’s, could have avoided war, Ecclestone replied: ‘Absolutely.’

He added: ‘What he’s doing is something he believed was the right thing for Russia. 

‘Unfortunately, like a lot of business people, certainly like me, we make mistakes from time to time, and when you’ve made the mistake you have to do the best you can to get out of it.’

He added: ‘I think if it had been conducted properly – I mean the other person in Ukraine… I understand he used to be a comedian, and I think he seems to want to continue that profession… I think if he had thought about things he would have definitely made a big enough effort to speak to Mr Putin, who is a sensible person and would have listened to him and probably done something about it.’  

Presenter Ben Shephard quizzed Ecclestone about the thousands of innocent lives killed in Ukraine, asking him: ‘You can’t justify that, surely?’ 

Ecclestone responded: ‘I don’t. It wasn’t intentional – look at all times America has moved into different countries which is nothing to do with America.’ 

He added: ‘And I’m quite sure Ukraine, if they’d wanted to get out of it properly, could have done.’

Asked if he has had a chance to speak to Putin about ‘what a mess’ the situation is or urged him to rethink what he is doing, Ecclestone said: ‘No. He’s probably thought about that himself. He probably doesn’t need reminding.

‘I’m absolutely sure he now wishes he hadn’t started this whole business, but didn’t start as a war.’

His former colleagues were quick to distance themselves from his remarks, with F1 releasing a statement to say they were ‘in very stark contrast to the position of the modern values of our sport.’

It comes after Russian attacks on apartment buildings and a shopping mall in Ukraine at the end of June, the latter of which was branded a war crime by western leaders. 

Ecclestone, however, said such civilian losses were ‘not intentional’, despite tens of thousands of innocents feared dead at the hands of indiscriminate shelling. 

The billionaire is a long-time admirer of Putin and the duo have been seen at sporting events together, often in deep conversation or laughing. 

Their friendship blossomed following the introduction of the Russian Grand Prix in 2014.

Even the day after Russian troops stormed Ukraine in February this year, Ecclestone described Putin as ‘honourable’ and someone who ‘did exactly what he said he was going to do without any arguments.’ 

Ecclestone had appeared from a sunny rooftop in Ibiza this morning to give his thoughts on the racism storm engulfing F1, defending Nelson Piquet, 69, after he branded Lewis Hamilton the N-word in an interview.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has led the condemnation of his remarks, telling GMB: ‘I think those comments are extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary.’

She added: ‘This is a man who has perpetrated an appalling war, involving the systematic rape of women, the targeting of civilians in shopping centres.

‘I find those comments absolutely extraordinary by Bernie Ecclestone. Clearly Vladimir Putin is toxic, the Prime minister is right to have said that.’ 

Ms Truss said she found ‘apologists’ for Putin ‘absolutely shocking’, when they can clearly see the ‘appalling’ atrocities unfolding in Ukraine. 

Formula One added: ‘The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to the position of the modern values of our sport.’ 

Ecclestone had been invited on the show to discuss the latest racism storm engulfing F1, after a video surfaced of Nelson Piquet calling Lewis Hamilton the N-word while discussing his crash with Max Verstappen at Silverstone last year.

While the Brazilian has apologised and insisted his language had no racist intent, he faces being banned from the F1 paddock. But Ecclestone, his long time pal, rushed to his defence today. 

He told GMB: ‘I’ve known Nelson for an awful long time. I was with him a couple of weeks ago. 

‘It’s not the sort of thing Nelson would say meaning something bad.

‘He probably thinks lots of things he says which might upset us or might feel a little bit offensive…. to him it’s nothing. It’s just part of conversation.

‘Nelson would never go out of his way to say anything bad, certainly. 

‘I think what probably happened, knowing Nelson as I know him, as his daughter is the girlfriend of Max Verstappen, probably after seeing the accident, he probably exploded and carried that forward.’

At a press conference today head of this weekend’s Silverstone Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton said: ‘I don’t know why we are giving the older voices a platform.

‘We are looking to go somewhere different and they are not representative of who we are now in the sport.

‘If we are looking to grow our audiences and give the younger people a platform that are more representative of today’s times… it is not just about one individual or the use of that term but the bigger picture.’

Hamilton continued: ‘I am incredibly grateful to all of those who have been supportive within the sport, particularly the drivers.

‘It has been two years since many of us took the knee at the first race in Austria and we are still faced with challenges.

‘I have been on the receiving end of racism and criticism and that negativity and archaic narratives for a long time and undertones of discrimination, so there is nothing new for me.’

Social media users reacted furiously to Piquet’s comments, with one tweeting: ‘What a small minded idiot’, while others accused him of being ‘racist.’ 

It is not the first time Ecclestone has courted controversy after first offering to take a bullet for Putin, a longtime friend of his, in 2019. 

He said at the time that he would ‘stand in front of a machine gun’ to save him, because he is a ‘good guy.’ 

He said he did not believe he was behind the infamous Novichok attack in Salisbury, accusing people of making things up. 

He said: ”He didn’t do that. He would be too busy to be worrying about that sort of thing. Storytellers make these things up.’ 

Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok on March 4 2018.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, died after she came into contact with a perfume container used to carry the Novichok on June 30.

The two suspects – known by their aliases Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov – were caught on CCTV in Salisbury the day before the attack, and in an interview claimed they were just visiting to see the town to see the cathedral.

The Russian government has always denied any involvement in the incident. 

The ex-F1 boss also said he thought Putin should be running Europe and that the invasion of Crimea was just to ‘bring Russia back together.’

He added: ‘I would like him running Europe,’ he says. ‘We haven’t got anybody, so it couldn’t be any worse. He does what he says he is going to do . . .

‘I am not a supporter of democracy. You need a dictator. As a dictator, you say, ‘This is what I am going to do.’ In a democracy, it gets watered down.’

Mr Eccelstone is a known admirer of the Russian President, and the duo have been seen at sporting events together.

They were spotted deep in conversation at the Russian Grand Prix in 2014 and Mr Eccelstone previously described Putin as a ‘first-class person’.

It is not the first time Mr Ecclestone – who stood down at the CEO of Formula One in 2017 – has stirred controversy.

He was previously forced to apologise when speaking in praise of Adolf Hitler, saying he was a man that could ‘get things done.’ 

At the same time, he accused Jews of failing to solve the banking crisis, even though ‘they have a lot of influence everywhere’. 

A spokesman for Germany’s Central Council of Jews said: ‘No team should work with him any more – a boycott would be more than appropriate.’

Later, Ecclestone said he was ‘so sorry’ and called himself ‘an idiot’. 

He insisted ‘things were taken a little bit wrong’ and his praise of the German tyrant was ‘not what he meant’ before adding: ‘Those who don’t know me think I support Hitler’s atrocities; those who do know me have told me how unwise I was to articulate my points so badly that it should have been so widely misunderstood.

‘During the 1930s Germany was facing an economic crisis but Hitler was able to rebuild the economy, building the autobahns and German industry.

‘That was all I meant when I referred to him getting things done.

‘I’m an admirer of good leadership, of politicians who stand by their convictions and tell the voters the truth.

‘I’m not an admirer of dictators, who rule by terror.’

In another interview, he added: ‘Hitler brought a country that was bankrupt into a country that was very strong and that was really demonstrating what someone could do if they had the power and didn’t have to keep back and referring every five minutes.

‘The trouble with politicians and democracy is they all the time have to compromise, they can’t do what they want to do because there is somebody in opposition. I regret it didn’t come out like that.’

In The Times interview, Ecclestone also referred to close friend Max Mosley, who was President of the motor racing body, the FIA, before taking his own life last May.

He then suggested the son of British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley would do a ‘super job’ as Prime Minister.

Mosley fought a privacy battle with a Sunday newspaper after he was exposed enjoying what was described as a Nazi-themed sadomasochistic orgy.

However, a judge later ruled there was no evidence of the ‘Nazi theme’ and Ecclestone said of Mosley: ‘He’s a good leader with people. 

‘I don’t think his background would be a problem.’ 

In 2014, Mr Ecclestone was cleared of bribery charges after he paid a German criminal court £60million.

The case has caused anger in Germany where critics said Ecclestone – who was accused of paying a banker a £27million bribe – had been ‘washed clean’ thanks to his ‘spectacular’ payment.

Campaigners said allowing the defendant to use his wealth to stop a criminal prosecution was ‘worrying’.