At the end of June, the 91-year-old functionary spoke approvingly of the Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin..

Ecclestone unexpectedly noted that he was even ready to " Moreover, the British businessman accused Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelensky of not doing anything to prevent war..

Faced with fierce criticism from the sports world in his address, the former head of Formula 1 decided to justify himself for his resonant statement. He assured that he felt sorry for the Ukrainians, because they do not deserve war and suffering.

" Things that bother me because of what I said before and because of what people think about it. Often people go out and say or do things, especially without thinking.. Perhaps I did the same and I can understand those who think that I am defending what they have done (we are talking about Putin - approx.. ) in Ukraine, although this is not the case.

I grew up during the second world war, the last war, so I know what it is. I feel very sorry for the people in Ukraine who suffer for nothing. They didn't do anything wrong, they didn't start anything, they didn't do anything and they just want to move on.. They want their children to go to school, try to go to work and earn a living for their family. They don't deserve to suffer.

In this (we are talking about war - approx.. ) there's nothing good, I don't see anyone gaining anything from this and I think they should get together and come to an agreement. I'm sorry if anything I said upset anyone because that was not my intention,"

Earlier, the words of Ecclestone in support of the President of the Russian Federation were harshly condemned by the current leadership of the " And seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said that Putin's support is beyond his understanding..

Ecclestone was in charge of Formula 1 from 1978 to 2017;

In his interviews, the businessman repeatedly praised the regimes of Adolf Hitler and Putin himself.. In 2019, Ecclestone said he would like Putin to take over Europe.

After the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, the current leadership turned out to be much smarter than Ecclestone, and terminated the contract to host the Formula 1 Grand Prix stage on the territory of the occupying country. The Formula 1 contract with Russia was calculated until 2025. Since 2014, the stage has been held in Sochi, since the 2023 season, the Russian Grand Prix was planned to be held on the new Igora Drive track near St. Petersburg.