sport news Bernie Ecclestone to miss Austrian Grand Prix following uproar over his backing ... trends now
Bernie Ecclestone has decided to miss this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix after his controversial comments shook the sport last week.
Formula One’s former ruler said he would ‘take a bullet’ for Vladimir Putin and suggested Lewis Hamilton should have ‘brushed aside’ a racist slur by Brazilian legend Nelson Piquet.
It was clear the 91-year-old would not be welcome at the Red Bull Ring, where he was planning to make his first race visit for more than two years, and he has now ditched the trip.
91-year-old Bernie Ecclestone said that he would 'take a bullet' for President Vladimir Putin
Ecclestone, 91, ran Formula One for four decades, turning it into a multi-billion-dollar business before losing day-to-day control in 2017, when Liberty Media bought the business.
In a bizarre interview on Good Morning Britain, Ecclestone branded 69-year-old dictator Putin a 'first class person' and 'sensible', before telling Hamilton he should 'brush aside' Piquet's racial slur and 'be happy' with his apology.
Hamilton, speaking in the toxic build-up to Sunday's British Grand Prix, hit back at the likes of Ecclestone and Piquet, claiming they should be 'silenced'.
'I don't know why we are continuing to give these older voices a platform,' he said.
In a bizarre interview on Good Morning Britain, former Formula 1 owner Bernie Ecclestone, 91, branded 69-year-old dictator Vladimir Putin a 'first class person' and 'sensible.'
'They are speaking for our sport, but we are looking to go somewhere different and they are not representative of who we are now and where we are planning to go.
'If we are looking to grow our audiences in the US and South Africa we need to be giving the younger people a platform. They are more representative of today's time and who we are trying to be. It is not just about one individual, or the use of that term, but the bigger picture.
'These older voices, subconsciously or consciously, do not agree people like me should be in this sport. Discrimination should not be projected.
'I don't think in the last couple of
