Ecclestone defends Russian president Putin
Bernie Ecclestone has not changed his views about controversial Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Before he was ousted as F1 supremo, 88-year-old Ecclestone put Sochi on the F1 calendar and Putin still attends the Russian GP with a highly visible presence.
Already in 2015, Ecclestone said he was Putin's "best supporter", because there is now "no place for democracy" in the world.
Now, in an interview with The Times, Ecclestone says he has not changed his views about "good guy" Putin.
"He's never done anything that isn't doing good things for people," he insisted.
"I would like him running Europe. I am not a supporter of democracy. You need a dictator."
Ecclestone said when Putin invaded Crimea in 2014, he was only trying "to bring Russia back together again". And he said Putin being blamed for the assassination of Sergei Skripal and his daughter last year was "fake news".
He continued: "If someone had a machine gun and was prepared to shoot Putin, I would stand in front of him."
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This article has nothing to do with motor sport, and should not be appearing on any website that is to do with motor sport. It's an item of political news. Let's keep politics out of our sport - it has a habit of destroying every sport it touches. If this goes on, it will end up with F1 press conferences asking for the political views of drivers and team managers, which would be catastrophic for the sport.
Hear, hear. I TOTALLY agree. Sport and politics DOESN'T mix well. An F1 supporter from South Africa
Not only does it not belong here... it's a weak stupid article as is ecclestone ( "no place for democracy" and "fake news").