London (AFP)
Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone on Wednesday supported six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who on Monday denounced the silence of "the biggest stars" in his "white-dominated" sport after the death of George Floyd in the USA.
"It is good that Lewis is speaking up and that the football players are starting to speak and continue to speak," Ecclestone told AFP from his home in Switzerland.
"As far as I am concerned, I am very surprised that it took such a long time for a black person so brutally killed to draw the attention of sportspeople to these things," added the former F1 grandmaster.
After the May 25 death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, during his arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Hamilton wrote on Instagram: "Some of you are among the biggest stars and yet you remain silent in the face of injustice ".
"No one moves a finger in my sport which is of course dominated by whites. I am one of the only people of color there, I am still alone," added the British Mercedes driver.
Besides Ecclestone, Toto Wolff, the boss of the Mercedes team, also supported Hamilton's position.
"Lewis is an advocate for minorities," said Wolff. "I learned a lot from him. He asked me one day: + Have you ever thought you were white? + I replied that I had never thought of it. He said to me:" J think about it every day. "
"It is very difficult for us to understand how difficult it is (as a black man) and I am glad that he expressed himself so clearly. He is one of the ambassadors of this sport and I think that's good, "added Wolff.
© 2020 AFP