Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has lashed out at the sport’s punishment of Russia after previously praising Vladimir Putin.
The race scheduled for September 25 in Sochi — the final year the city was due to host the event before it moves to Saint Petersburg — was cancelled by F1 bosses last Friday.
“It does not make sense whichever way you look at,” he told AFP. “There is no war in Russia to my knowledge so if it took place it would make no difference to anybody.“This idea of trying to punish Russia this way in a sporting sense is not going to punish Putin at all.” “It is all ridiculous, all these things they keep threatening to do. ‘Oh we must do something to help’ but they don’t do anything but talk, as there is nothing anyone can do.”“As a person I found him very straightforward and honourable,” Ecclestone told Times Radio. “He did exactly what he said he was going to do without any arguments.
Russia has also been expelled from the 2022 Football World Cup — they were in the qualifying play-offs — and its athletes are also facing being frozen out of other major events taking place this year. Ecclestone, for his part, says the call by the FIA this week to permit Russian drivers to still compete, albeit under a neutral flag, was the right one.
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