Do we like them?

Do we like Bernie Ecclestone?

Our score: 1 out of 10. A long run of his own remarks that F1 itself disowned, a tax-fraud conviction, and no verified good deeds to set against them.

For decades Ecclestone was the man who ran Formula One, the dealmaker who turned a racing series into a global money machine. These days he's mostly a pundit. Early in 2026 he and Flavio Briatore were warning that the new F1 rules could mean a rocky start to the season.

The big stain on the record is tax. In October 2023 he pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to fraud by false representation over an undeclared overseas trust. He got a 17-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and agreed a civil settlement of about £652 million with the tax office. His lawyer said he never intended to avoid paying tax, but the court still convicted him.

Now the harm check, where he does worst. In 2020 he told CNN that in lots of cases Black people show more prejudice than white people. F1 said the comments had “no place” in the sport or in society. That is his own claim, and it was judged on those words alone.

In June 2022 he went on British TV and said he would still take a bullet for Vladimir Putin, calling him a good guy, months into the invasion of Ukraine. F1 said the comments were in stark contrast to its modern values. He apologised a couple of weeks later, saying he wasn't defending the invasion and felt sorry for Ukrainians suffering for something they hadn't done.

That apology was a single statement. Nothing I could open shows him changing course since, and the pattern of sticking his foot in it on people and politics runs across years. On the good side, I couldn't verify any charity work or kind acts I could source, so that column is empty. I also couldn't open the stories on his 2009 remarks about Hitler and women, so I've left them out of the score.