Bernie Ecclestone says he found Vladimir Putin ‘straightforward and honourable’ in F1 dealings

Ecclestone has in the past come to the defence of Putin, and even once said he would take a bullet for the president

Putin and Ecclestone talk during the Russian Grand Prix in 2018 (Getty Images)

The former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has said he found Vladimir Putin to be “straightforward and honourable” in his personal dealings with the Russian president.

During his time in charge of the sport, Ecclestone worked closely with Putin to establish the Russian Grand Prix as a fixture on the F1 circuit.

This year’s Russian Grand Prix has now been cancelled after Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking on 25 February, the day after the invasion began, Ecclestone was asked by Times Radio whether he thought Putin had done anything wrong, and he seemed to mistakenly believe Ukraine had joined NATO and therefore provoked an attack.

“I’m not completely clear as to what and how,” Ecclestone said. “I understand that this all started because [Putin] suggested that he didn’t want NATO to occupy or take part in the country which they’re allegedly invading. I think that’s what happened. I think if they’d agreed it wouldn’t happen and NATO wouldn’t be there, there wouldn’t have been this problem [war], so it’s a case really and truly of what the world thinks about that whole position with NATO.”

Ecclestone has in the past come to the defence of Putin, and even once said he would take a bullet for the president.

“As a person I found him very straightforward and honourable,” Ecclestone said. “He did exactly what he said he was going to do without any arguments.”

Ecclestone was speaking before the Russian Grand Prix was cancelled, and added: “It’s not going to make any difference if there’s a Formula One race in Russia to anything else happening in the world.”

Asked whether cancelling the Russian Grand Prix would be a sign that the rest of the world does not tolerate unprovoked invasions, Ecclestone said: “I suppose it’s the people that are actually engaged in the event that would decide on that because maybe other people would decide that it’s the right thing for Russia to do. How can anyone else judge exactly what’s happening today unless they are close to it?”