Ex-Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone shocked viewers as he told Good Morning Britain he would "still take a bullet" for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Ecclestone, the former chief of the Formula One Group, described the Russian leader as a "first-class person" despite the war Mr Putin is raging in Ukraine. The one time F1 supremo and Formula One Constructors Association founder told ITV viewers he believes the war in Ukraine is not "intentional".
Mr Ecclestone claimed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky could have avoided it by taking actions and speaking to Mr Putin. The former QPR FC owner described Putin as "sensible".
Read more: Freeview viewers to lose 10 channels today
Asked if he considers Mr Putin a friend, Mr Eccleston said: “I’d still take a bullet for him. I’d rather it didn’t hurt, but if it does I’d still take a bullet, because he’s a first-class person.
“What he’s doing is something that he believed was the right thing he was doing for Russia. Unfortunately, he’s like a lot of business people, certainly like me, we make mistakes from time to time. When you’ve made the mistake, you have to do the best you can to get out of it.
“I think if it had been conducted properly, I mean the other person in Ukraine (Mr Zelensky), I mean, his profession, I understand, he used to be a comedian.
“I think he seems as if he wants to continue that profession, because I think if he’d have 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 could have probably done something about it.”
Presenter Kate Garraway responded: “So just to understand you clearly, you think that President Zelensky should have done more to avert this war and it could have been avoided by Zelensky’s actions, not by a change in Putin’s actions?”
Mr Ecclestone replied: “Absolutely.”
Mr Ecclestone claimed the war in Ukraine - sparked by a Russian invasion of its neighbour - was not “intentional”, adding: “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 Mr Putin about “what a mess” the situation is or urged him to rethink what he is doing, Mr 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.”
He also said Nelson Piquet, who apologised after using an offensive expression when discussing Sir Lewis Hamilton in an interview last year, would “never go out of his way to say anything bad”. Mr Piquet reportedly used a racial slur to describe Sir Lewis after the 2021 British Grand Prix.
Mr Ecclestone told Good Morning Britain: “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 then and sort of carried that forward.
“I know his feelings because I was alone, I exploded, didn’t say anything obviously because there wouldn’t have been any point because there was nobody here to hear my reaction to that.
“So that’s probably what his problem was. He was upset with the accident, thinking it was wrong, and probably thinking it was Lewis’s fault – I did as well, as it happens – but anyway, that’s probably what he thought and he probably exploded about that.”
A Formula One spokesman said: “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.”
READ NEXT:
- Warning issued to Barclaycard customers over problem affecting cards
- Aldi unveils 'cheapest school uniform deal' with £5 bundles up for grabs
- Duke and Duchess of Cambridge tribute to Deborah James after 'Bowelbabe' campaigner dies
- Northumberland Line preparations uncover ancient remains at new rail site
- Airbnb bans parties and events at homes listed on its website worldwide
