Ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone says he’d still ‘take a bullet’ for Vladimir Putin

Good Morning Britain viewers were stunned on Thursday as hosts Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway interviewed Bernie Ecclestone.

The ex Formula One boss appeared live on the ITV show from sunny Ibiza, but some of his comments left people tuning in at home absolutely fuming.

When Kate asked Bernie if he still regarded Russian President Vladimir Putin as a friend, Bernie simply replied: “I’d still take a bullet for him. Id’ rather he didn’t hurt, but I’d still take a bullet for him.”

When the mother-of-two asked why, Bernie continued: “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…

Ex Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone on Thursday’s Good Morning Britain (Image: ITV)

“I mean, the other person in Ukraine, I mean his profession I understand, 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 continued.

Father-of-two Ben seemed shocked and replied: “Bernie, what we have are the actions of Putin and the war that he started in Ukraine has led to the death of thousands ok innocent Ukrainians, you can’t justify that surely?”

“It wasn’t intentional,” Bernie replied, before adding: “Look at the times America has moved into different countries which is nothing to do with America.”

Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway spoke to Bernie Ecclestone live from Ibiza (Image: ITV)

Kate then clarified: “So just to understand you clearly, you think that President Zelenskyy should have done more to avert this war and it could have been avoided by Zelenskyy’s actions, not by a change in Putin’s actions?”

“Absolutely,” Bernie replied, as Kate asked him to explain himself.

“It wasn’t intentional to be a war, and I’m quite sure if Ukraine had wanted to get out of it properly, they could have done,” Bernie said calmly.

Kate then said: “Are you worried at all about aligning yourself with Vladimir Putin?”

“Not at all, not at all. He’s a person that probably if he was in business he’d made a mistake and wish he hadn’t had made it, but after things have happened, it’s a bit too late. It could have been stopped very, very easy,” Bernie replied.

Bernie said he would ‘still take a bullet’ for Russian President Vladimir Putin (Image: Mikhail Metzel/TASS)

“I think if you think about it, our friend in Ukraine could have stopped it easier, couldn’t he?”

Viewers couldn’t believe what they were hearing and took to Twitter to comment.

“Wow #BernieEccleston is a f*cking mentalist! Supporting Putin… get the tw*t off the TV #GMB,” one raged.

Another person tweeted: “Get him off the show RIGHT NOW #GMB,” while a third said: “Somebody pull the plug on this Bernie Ecclestone interview. Embarrassing! #GMB.”

Bernie spoke about Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s former profession as a ‘comedian’ (Image: Zuma Press/PA Images)

A fourth person posted: “This interview with Bernie Ecclestone is car crash telly. Thoughts and prayers with this guys PR team this morning #GMB.”

And a fifth viewer added: “What a car crash interview with Bernie Ecclestone. Showing his true dinosaur colours. #GMB.”

Elsewhere in the chat, Bernie was asked about Nelson Piquet’s alleged racial slur against Lewis Hamilton.

He told Ben and Kate: “I’ve known him for a very long time. It’s not the sort of thing Nelson would say meaning something bad.

“To him it’s nothing. Just part of conversation. He would never go out of his way to say anything bad.

Bernie also appeared to defend Nelson Piquet’s alleged racial slur against Lewis Hamilton (Image: Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images)

“As his daughter is the girlfriend of Max Verstappen, probably after seeing the accident he probably exploded and carried that forward.

“I exploded, didn’t say anything obviously. He was upset with the accident thinking it was wrong and thinking it was Lewis’ fault. I thought it was.”

He also compared use of the racial slur to being called “overweight or undersized”, saying: “I’m surprised Lewis hasn’t brushed it aside.”

Following the interview with Bernie, host Ben didn’t look overly impressed and Kate was heard saying: “Crikey!”

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV and ITV Hub.