After the controversy of Nelson Piquet following a series of racist comments in reference to Lewis Hamilton, practically nobody has supported the Brazilian champion, but one of those who did was the former owner of the championship, Bernie Ecclestone.
The seven-time world champion driver said at the time that people who were important to the top category in the past should not be paid attention to, since they lived through a time when racism was the order of the day, recalling that he himself had to deal with these problems for much of his racing career.
Something that seems to have bothered Ecclestone himself and that provoked a direct response to Hamilton , reminding him that at the time he supported him in a way that reveals his latest statements on the matter.
“Lewis has forgotten some things, all the good things I did for him,” Ecclestone told the Blick newspaper. “At the moment when Mercedes did not want to pay him the salary he was asking for, I personally promised to compensate that difference from my pocket.”
“And I did it precisely because I have always believed that people of color are important to Formula 1. For example, another of my dreams was to have a Chinese driver on the starting grid.”
“So what you’re saying now is nonsense. If what you’re saying about racism applies to me, it’s totally unfair. If you thought about it for a bit, you’d remember that some time ago, your father and I were planning a business together. Would I have done that if I was racist? On the contrary, I have always run against racism, so these are pointless accusations.”
Bernie Ecclestone also wanted to defend Nelson Piquet , explaining that too much importance was being given to words that had no bad intention, according to his vision.
“Nelson definitely wouldn’t say anything like that. Yes, his words seem unacceptable, but you have to keep in mind that he was speaking in Portuguese and for the Brazilian public, surely those statements didn’t sound so bad to them,” concluded the former owner of the Formula 1.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes driver in Formula 1.
