Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone has a history of making controversial comments about Lewis Hamilton and may have just made more controversial comments about the British driver. The 92-year-old recently declared that although the seven-time champion is good at racing, he is not “one of us”. Instead, Ecclestone called Max Verstappen a man of the people in his latest interview with the Daily Mail and ranked him above Hamilton in his list of the greatest players of all time.
This is the second time this year Ecclestone has made controversial comments about Hamilton. Earlier this year, the British business tycoon criticized the 38-year-old’s political views.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Ecclestone said (as quoted by Crash.net): “People don’t go to a Formula 1 race to be lectured. Certainly drivers should enjoy freedom of speech, but the question is when and how they use it. It’s wrong. All of this is completely untrue. I am 100 percent against it.
“There is no one like Lewis…”:
Bernie Ecclestone praises Max Verstappen
In his latest interview with the Daily Mail, Bernie Ecclestone explained why he thinks most people have no connection to Lewis Hamilton. As quoted by Crash.net, the 92-year-old said: “In our Formula 1 field, there is no one like Lewis. Nobody else. I think at first he was a little different from the others.” Ecclestone then also explained why Hamilton is unlikely to become a role model in F1. The former F1 CEO gave his opinion when comparing the British driver with his main rival Max Verstappen.
“He (Hamilton) is very different from Max. When Lewis stops racing, he may enter another world – entertainment or otherwise – but that will not be the way forward for Max,” Ecclestone explained.
That’s why the 92-year-old believes “Max is one of us.” This is not the first time Hamilton has faced criticism from the older generation, and he has repeatedly expressed concern about the amount of work that remains to help people express their views freely. yourself without fear of being judged.
Hamilton does not understand criticism from the older generation
In a 2020 interview with the Daily Mail, Lewis Hamilton explained why he doesn’t understand criticism from the older generation. He said (as quoted by Planetf1.com): “I get hit by a lot of people, especially older drivers. They have a bee in their hat. I do not know why”. The 38-year-old then added that he has the greatest respect for “legends of the past,” even if some of them continue to speak negatively about him. The seven-time champion then ended this interview by making it clear that after his retirement, he will no longer speak negatively about any of the younger generation riders.