Owned by Liberty Media, Formula 1 made known its deep disagreement and marked its very clear distancing with remarks made by Bernie Ecclestone in an interview granted to CNN. We learn at the same time that the former great financier has not been president emeritus of F1 for six months.
The comments in question were made by the person concerned when he was asked to address the initiatives launched by Lewis Hamilton in recent days, in connection with the “Black Lives Matter” movement. The six-time world champion has invested heavily in the issue of racism as well as that of diversity, the latter theme also being tackled by F1 with his new initiative #WeRaceAsOne.
Bernie Ecclestone said in the CNN interview “wonderful” Lewis Hamilton’s behavior and his desire to move the lines. However, he relativized the impact later, with these words: “I don’t think it will do anything bad or good for Formula 1. It will only make people think about what’s more important. I think it’s the same for everyone. People should think a little bit and say to themselves, “And thin! Someone who is not like white and black people should think the same thing about someone who is white.” In many cases, black people are more racist than white people. “
Bernie Ecclestone also believed that the unbolting of statues like that of Edward Colston in Bristol during the protests was “stupid”.
It is therefore following these declarations that F1 reacted tonight with an official voice: “In a period when union is necessary to combat racism, we totally disagree with the words of Bernie Ecclestone, who have no place in Formula 1 or in society. Mr. Ecclestone has played no part role in Formula 1 since he left our company in 2017. His title as President Emeritus, being honorary, expired in January 2020. “
Since Liberty Media became the owner of F1 three and a half years ago, it is the first time that it has distanced itself from this with comments made by Ecclestone.
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