The reigning F1 champion Lewis Hamilton is yet to deliver results up to his reputation in the ongoing motorsports 2022 season. Although the Mercedes driver did manage a podium finish by coming third at the Canadian Grand Prix, he is far from replicating his success of the previous seasons.

Bernie Eccelstone

While Lewis Hamilton is not able to extract desired results on the track, he is not shying away from expressing his opinion and taking on former F1 boss Bernie Eccelstone. In a recent development, Eccelstone has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and termed him a 'first-class person' and backed his decision to invade Ukraine.

In an interview with ITV's 'Good Morning Britain' on Thursday, 91-year-old said, "What he's doing is something that he believed was the right thing he was doing for Russia. Unfortunately, he's like a lot of business people, certainly like me, we make mistakes from time to time."

Further, Eccelstone claimed that he would take a bullet in his chest for the Russian president and suggested that war between Russia-Ukraine could have been avoided if Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky would have made a big enough effort' to speak to Mr Putin.

Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton celebrates during the Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka CircuitClive Rose/Getty Images

Responding to Eccelstone's comment, the Mercedes driver has suggested broadcaster not give him a platform as he is not relevant to the sports. "We don't need any more of it, to hear from someone that it believes in the war and the migration of people and killing of people," he said. He further stated that he cannot believe that he heard such a comment from Eccelstone, as his thought will put humanity 'decades back.'

Even, F1 moved to distance itself from the remarks of its former boss, as the spokesperson claimed that the comments made by Bernie Eccelstone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to the position of the modern values of the sport.

Notably, Bernie Eccelstone had earlier been at the centre of controversies when he was caught carrying a gun. The arrest took place in Brazil when he was set to travel to Switzerland from Sao Paolo in a private jet.