Kate Garraway & Ben Shephard stunned into silence after Bernie Ecclestone’s controversial remarks on F1 racism and Putin
KATE Garraway and Ben Shephard were stunned into silence over ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone’s controversial comments on Good Morning Britain.
The 91-year-old refused to condemn racism in the sport and said he’d “take a bullet” for “first class and sensible person” Vladimir Putin.
Ending the interview, Kate and Ben were lost for words.
TV presenter Kate then eventually said: “Crikey.”
Despite not making any remarks about the bizarre interview, Ben couldn’t hide his feelings.
He raised his eyebrows and shook his head in disbelief after the exchange with the former chief executive of the Formula One Group.
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Bernie also waded into Russia’s war on Ukraine by standing by his long-term pal, President Putin.
“I’d still take a bullet for him,” said Bernie.
“I’d rather it didn’t hurt, but I’d still take a bullet for him… because he’s a first class person and 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 person – certainly like me – that we make mistakes from time-to-time. And when you’ve made a mistake, you have to do the best you can to get out of it and I think if it had been conducted properly…”
Bernie then went on to accuse Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky of failing to properly handle the situation.
He appeared to suggest if someone else had been in charge, the war would not have gone ahead.
Bernie added: “He used to be a comedian and it seems he wants to continue that profession because I think if he had thought about things and made a big enough effort to speak to Mr Putin, who is a sensible person and would have listened to him, and could have probably done something about it.”
Bernie was also quizzed on Nelson Piquet’s vile racial slur against Lewis Hamilton, who has called on F1 to take action.
The 69-year-old has apologised for what he says was an “ill thought out” comment, made in November last year.
Bernie defend Piquet over the comment – and said you “can’t make laws to stop people saying things”.
Frustrated Ben hit back: “You can condemn it though, Bernie.
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“You have authority in the sport, albeit a former boss of Formula One, so you can come out and say this has no place in our sport.”
He shocked the presenters with his reply, saying: “I haven’t got an opinion.”
A spokesman from F1 told The Sun: “The comments made by Bernie Ecclestone are his personal views and are in very stark contrast to the position of the modern values of our sport.”