Plenty of figures in F1 have been honored by the British crown over the years for their contribution to motorsports. However, one of F1’s most polarizing figures of all time, Bernie Ecclestone, claims to have snubbed the Queen back in 1996 when she wanted to award him with the CBE (Commander of the British Empire), the same honor that Red Bull team principal Christian Horner will be presented with come 2024.
In 2019, Ecclestone appeared in an episode of the Beyond the Grid podcast, where he spoke about the same. Ecclestone revealed that he doesn’t agree with the idea of receiving honors from the Crown for personal achievements. In addition, he also thought people would forget him in a matter of months since he was venturing out of F1 at the time. Talking about his legacy, the Brit said,
“I don’t have one. I will disappear and be forgotten within a few months like most people.”
Admittedly, Ecclestone played a huge role in making F1 what it is today. Up until Liberty Media took over in 2017, he was in charge for a very long time and oversaw some huge transitional phases.
Ecclestone resorted to humility while explaining why he decided the reject the CBE. According to him, what he did to help F1 grow “does not deserve any acknowledgment” from anyone.
A lot of people who worked with Ecclestone, however, were proud recipients of the CBE, and even other honors including the Knighthood. Interestingly, before Sir Lewis Hamilton was knighted in 2021, Ecclestone felt that he too, didn’t deserve the honor.
Bernie Ecclestone didn’t want Lewis Hamilton to receive knighthood
Hamilton is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. He has seven world championships to his name, but his name was being considered for knighthood when he had just six. During this time, Ecclestone said in the same interview, that Hamilton doesn’t deserve the knighthood for the same reason he snubbed the CBE.
Ecclestone admits that Hamilton did a great job in representing England, like himself. However, when Hamilton set out on his journey to the top of F1, he wasn’t thinking about his country. He too, was out doing something that he wanted for himself.
Talking about the ones who deserve these honors, Ecclestone singled out the ones who do things for the country without benefitting financially from it. They are the ones who, according to him, deserve the knighthood and all awards from the Crown.
