Bernie Ecclestone has finally felt the urge to apologise for saying he would "take a bullet" for Vladimir Putin and appearing to defend the Russian warmonger's Ukraine invasion.
The 91-year-old stunned viewers when he made that claim while appearing as a guest on ITV's Good Morning Britain. He went on to declare Putin to be a "first-class person" and argued that, by launching his bloody offensive on Ukraine, Putin was simply "doing something he believes is the right thing".
Those statements sparked a predictable amount of uproar, as many high-profile names denounced Ecclestone. The fury grew even more when he took aim at Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and blamed the "comedian" for "not making enough effort" to agree peace with Russia.
More than a week after making those initial statements, Ecclestone says he has finally realised that his words were inappropriate. Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "Probably good for me to get some things off my chest. things that have been bothering me about what I've said, and about what people think [about] what I've said.
"Often people come out and say things, or do things, without really too much thinking. Probably I did the same. And 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, and 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've done nothing. They want to get on with their lives. They want their kids to go to school, they want to try to 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 anyone getting anything out of this, and I think they should get together and get an agreement. And I'm sorry if it's anything I've said that has upset anybody because it certainly wasn't intended."
There was no apology, however, for Lewis Hamilton after the two came to verbal blows over Ecclestone's defence of Nelson Piquet after his racist slur. That led to the seven-time world champion questioning why "old voices" are given a platform, before the ex-F1 boss replied by claiming "Lewis has forgotten a lot".
