Bernie Ecclestone has fired a shot against his countryman Lewis Hamilton – The former Formula 1 boss thinks that the seven-time world champion should not speak so much away from the race track.
In the 1970s, Bernie Ecclestone built Formula 1 into a world sport and became a billionaire in the process. The 90-year-old is not always satisfied with the development of the modern pinnacle of motorsport.
He does not deny that Lewis Hamilton is an excellent driver. Nevertheless, the former Formula 1 boss remains critical of the newly-crowned seven-time world champion.
“Of course there is no doubt about his talent, the results he has achieved speak for themselves. But off the track, he got a number of things wrong.” claims Ecclestone in Switzerland’ss Blick newspaper.
“Behind the scenes, he could have achieved much more in silence,” says Ecclestone.
So in other words, he should stay quiet and shut up and concentrate on the essentials. This speaks to the political commitment that Hamilton has developed more and more over the course of his career.
Hamilton has recently been a strong advocate for environmental issues such as climate change. He also champions the “Black Lives Matter” movement on social media. He also shows that the fight against racism is a major concern for him at Formula 1 weekends.
Referring to T-shirts with the words “Black Lives Matter”, the other drivers in the field also take part in these actions. Not everyone has knelt down, but all 20 drivers wear a shirt with a “message”.
It is actions like these that Ecclestone finds excessive. He thinks it’s good that Hamilton is standing up for his concerns such as equal opportunities and diversity, but the sport doesn’t have a racism problem as far as he’s concerned.
Hamilton, of course, sees it quite differently. A comment made by Ecclestone during the summer does not necessarily help in this matter either. “Blacks in many cases are more racist than whites,” was the former ringmaster’s statement.
Bernie…….you should just shut the f*ck up and focus on whatever years you have left. Stop meddling with things you’re considered irrelevant. You don’t own F1 anymore.
He’s such a salty old pirate. Take a leaf from your own book then and stop talking so much. Go enjoy your billions in silence. If you feel you have the right to say anything about anyone else including Hamilton then Hamilton has every right to stand up and talk about what he believes matters. Weather you support him, or his views or not he has every right to Express them just as you are expressing yours right now. Silly dusty rusty old hypocrite
Yea white privilege who wants the black guy in the corner to be quiet. Well done Lewis, keep that narrative going.
The old man must just shut the f up. He got racist issues
👍 up Lewis! U have earned the podium, so use it for the less powerful. Respect your elders but not those that speak for the privileged class!
if you’re referring to Mr E as ‘privileged class’ , you probably don’t know a lot about F1 and it’s history
Please don’t interpret my comments as being ungracious to Mr E and the thousands around him for the many years of F1 pleasure🙏. I do pray that one day you realize white privilege and assist the positive narratives!
merely pointing out that he was a son of a fisherman and unprivileged, therefore built up from near enough zero to now. You mentioned class… he’s white of course, but a normal definition of class describes wealth and a background of wealth
A withered stunted body with an intellect to match. Outdated views from an irrelevant bitter old fool.
It’s funny and surprising that Lewis only cares about black lives. Thousands of white farmers were killed since 1994 in SA – why doesn’t he says anything about that- it doesn’t suit him . Mostly White’s are responsible for your success. Stick to motoracing – you’re good at that.
Lets not let facts get in the way of a good anti-BLM or equality debate shall we eh?
The figures run nowhere near to the “thousands” that are “quoted” online all too often. When we do this, we venture down a very dangerous, dare I say it Trumpian path, of fake facts and manipulation.
https://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-statistics-farm-attacks-murders-sa/
In summary, pre 1997, SA police did not record these stats, and those stats that do exist are potentially skewed and unreliable.
That one set of data shows 1540 deaths since 1997 – yes a lot since 1997, but not the emotive “thousands” that are blurted out when people are trying to make a point (that’s 66 per year – in context, the UK is considered to have a very low murder rate at 650 per year). Dont get me wrong, 1 death is one too many, as I am sure it wouldnt need pointing out that Lewis would agree to, black, white blue or purple.
The reason that Lewis and others are choosing to make a stand and make their voices be heard, is due to the institutional racism that still pervades society today, the denial of opportunity to a whole section of society because of this, and yes, the brutality and unjust treatment by the Police (read, STATE)
You are right however, he is IS good at motor racing, although he is free to turn his hand to whatever he chooses.
one of your best comments G I must admit
I’ve screenshot’d that… 😉