Formula One star Lewis Hamilton has taken exception to Bernie Ecclestone’s seemingly racially divisive comments.
Ecclestone, who is a former Formula One CEO, suggested the sport was “too busy” to join the fight against racism.
In an interview with CNN, he stated that “in lots of cases, Black people are more racist than what white people are.”
Reacting to Hamilton’s recent claims that he has felt the “stigma of racism” throughout his F1 career, Ecclestone said he didn’t think such experiences affected the driver.
However, the six-time F1 world champion has condemned the former FI CEO’s comments, describing him as ignorant.
Lewis Hamilton on Bernie Ecclestone's comments in the CNN interview… pic.twitter.com/rJCGn1moeq
— Phillip Horton (@PHortonF1) June 26, 2020
Taking to Instagram, Hamilton said: “So sad and disappointing to read these comments.
“Bernie is out of the sport and a different generation, but this is exactly what is wrong — ignorant and uneducated comments which show us how far we as a society need to go before real equality can happen.”
Hamilton added that he now understands why nothing was done about racism during Ecclestone’s tenure as CEO.
“It makes complete sense to me now that nothing was said or done to make our sport more diverse or to address the racial abuse I received throughout my career.
“If someone who ran the sport for decades has such a lack of understanding of the deep routed issues we as Black people deal with every day, how can we expect all the people who work under him to understand. It starts at the top,” he wrote.
