Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has defended his controversial comments about race which drew criticism from Lewis Hamilton.

Ecclestone, 89, claimed in an interview with CNN Sport that ‘in lots of cases black people are more racist than what white people are’.

This was met with anger and disappointment by Hamilton, who described his ex-boss’ view as ‘ignorant’.

But speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Ecclestone responded by saying: "I am not anti black people. Quite the opposite. I have always been very much in favour. In fact, Lewis’s dad wanted to go into business with me.

"He made some nice rowing machines. I would never even have considered it if I had been anti-black. If the project had been right, I would have done it.

"It’s not my fault I am white, or that I am a little shorter than the next man. I was called Titch at school. I realised I had to do something about it. Black people should look after themselves.

"When I lost my driving licence, I had a black driver, not because he was black, but because I didn’t care whether he was black or white. Now it’s suddenly fashionable to talk about diversity."

Hamilton told The Times last week that he had been subjected to a number of racist incidents in his career such as in Spain in 2008 when fans wore blackface in an attempt to rile him up.

But Ecclestone insisted he was surprised by the six-time world champion’s reaction to the incident.

“I'm surprised that it concerns him (Hamilton)," he added.

"I'm really unhappy if he took it seriously. I never thought he did. I didn't think it affected him."