Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone massive fan of Russian president Vladimir Putin. In fact, he believes that Putin will be able to run Europe.

In an interview with The Times, the British businessman admitted that he would stand in front of Putin if someone had a machine gun and was prepared to shoot him.

This was, “because he’s a good guy,” Ecclestone said. “He’s never done anything that isn’t doing good things for people.”

“I would like him running Europe,” he said. “We haven’t got anybody, so it couldn’t be any worse.”

“I am not a supporter of democracy. You need a dictator. As a dictator, you say, ‘This is what I am going to do.’ In a democracy, it gets watered down.”

As it turns out, the Sunday Times Rich List revealed that Bernie Ecclestone and his family are worth £2.5bn. Bernie Ecclestone is unafraid to admit that he admires Putin and his autocratic tendencies. In fact, Ecclestone courted controversy when he said that Adolf Hitler was a man who “was able to get things done.”

The octogenarian stood down as the CEO of F1 backin early 2017 after four decades at the helm. He was succeeded by US company Liberty Media when they completed an $8bn takeover of the company’s parent group. Since then, they have ushered in numerous changes to the sport.

In the interview with the Times, Ecclestone said that Putin’s invasion of Crimea was him wanting “to bring Russia back together again,”. He also claimed that Vladimir Putin did not plot the assassination of former Russian intelligence officer Segei Skripal and his daughter.

“He didn’t do that. He would be too busy to be worrying about that sort of thing. Storytellers make these things up,” he said.