SOCHI, September 28. /TASS, Andrey Kartashov/. Former F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone, who is currently in Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix, told TASS he is a big supporter of President Vladimir Putin and some countries in the West are simply ‘jealous’ of what the Russian leader has achieved.
Asked by a TASS correspondent why the West maintains its pressure on Russia and President Putin, Ecclestone said: "They are jealous of what he [President Putin] has achieved and what he has now."
"Since the day I met Mr. Putin I have been a big super-supporter of him in the way he acts and the way he does things. We need a few more Mr. Putins," the 88-year-old former F1 supremo said in an interview with TASS.
Ecclestone also said he enjoyed attending F1 Russian Grands Prix, which are held since 2014, and to personally meet and speak with the Russian leader. President Putin has attended all of the previous F1 races in Sochi and was personally awarding the main prize to the winner.
Sochi Autodrom track is the only racing circuit in Russia hosting a FIA Formula One Grand Prix. Located in the Olympic Park, which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, the 5,848-meter long racing circuit in the Black Sea coastal area has already successfully hosted five F1 Grand Prix races.
The contract to include Russia in the calendar of F1 racing for the 2014-2020 period was signed in 2010 in Sochi by then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and former Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone. In early 2017, the contract to hold F1 racing in Russia’s Sochi was extended until 2025.
In late 2014, the Sochi Autodrom was awarded the trophy of Formula One’s best racing track of the year. The Race Promoters' Trophy is a rotating award, engraved with the names of other top F1 tracks dating from 1975.
