Hamilton right to speak out on racial injustice, says Ecclestone

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Lewis Hamilton (right) with former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. - AFP file

London - The former F1 supremo said he had taken a stand against racism when he removed the South African Grand Prix from the calendar in 1986 due to the apartheid regime then in place

By AFP

Published: Wed 3 Jun 2020, 10:00 PM

Last updated: Thu 4 Jun 2020, 12:08 AM

Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has backed Lewis Hamilton after the six-time world champion spoke about his "rage" over racial injustice following the death of George Floyd.
The 89-year-old Englishman said Hamilton and other sports stars should have the freedom to air their views.

Hamilton, the only black driver in F1, on Tuesday said he had been "completely overcome with rage at the sight of such blatant disregard for the lives of our (black) people" following the incident in the United States.
It was the second time he has spoken out about the death of Floyd, an unarmed African-American who died last week after a police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck.
Many global sports stars, including several Formula One drivers, have spoken out against racial injustice since the incident.
"It is a good thing that Lewis does come out and the footballers and start talking and they should carry on doing so," Ecclestone told AFP by phone from his home in Switzerland.
Ecclestone, who oversaw the transformation of F1 into a global multi-billion dollar commercial giant, welcomed the widespread reaction to Floyd's death.
"As far as I am personally concerned, it is a great surprise to me it has taken so long for a black person to be so brutally killed to bring sports people's attention to these things," he said.
Ecclestone said he had taken a stand against racism when he removed the South African Grand Prix from the calendar in 1986 due to the apartheid regime then in place.
"I pulled the race out of South Africa when there was apartheid, which was wrong and disgusting," said Ecclestone.
"I don't see that racism has ever gone away. People have always not been very nice."