Bernie Ecclestone has claimed he offered to pay Lewis Hamilton's contract and that the F1 star "has forgotten a lot" after the Brit said the "old voices" of Formula 1 should not be given a platform.
Ecclestone was indirectly targeted by the Mercedes man at the British Grand Prix this weekend, after the former F1 supremo defended Nelson Piquet following his racist comment aimed at Hamilton. The Brit questioned why figures from the sport's past are given a platform to say negative things.
"In the last couple of weeks, I don't think a day has gone by when someone who has not been relevant in our sport for decades has not been saying negative things and trying to bring me down," he said. "But I am still here and still standing strong. I'm focused on my work and pushing for diversity and inclusion in our sport."
Ecclestone felt Hamilton had been rude with his comments, telling outspoken broadcaster Piers Morgan: "A complete load of rubbish. If he's referring to me... there's nothing I've done. He should even think a little bit, his father and myself were talking about going into business a little while ago. I'm not racist. Quite the opposite actually and to say things like that is completely crazy."
And the 91-year-old has further commented on the situation, claiming that Hamilton should be more grateful to him as he once offered to supplement his salary. "Lewis has forgotten a lot," he told Swiss outlet Blick. "When Mercedes didn't pay him what he asked for, I immediately said I'd pay the difference! Because Formula 1 needs a person of colour, a Chinese and a woman."
On top of his defence of Piquet, Ecclestone has also been criticised for repeating his claim that he would "take a bullet" for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. "I'd rather it didn't hurt but I would still take a bullet," he said. "What he's doing is something that he believed was the right thing he was doing for Russia."
And he doubled-down on that pledge in his Blick interview, adding: "Maybe I'm not sensitive enough, I see many things differently – and they've already been said because I was asked so nicely. But I stand by one statement – Putin was always fair to Formula 1. I can't say that about all GP organizers."
