Bernie Ecclestone has defended Lewis Hamilton's recent driving, saying "what we want is people racing" and likening his style to Ayrton Senna.
Hamilton has come in for criticism following incidents in the last two grands prix. In Monaco he was given a drive-through penalty for a collision with Felipe Massa before being retrospectively penalised for later contact with Pastor Maldonado. In Canada an early tap on Mark Webber was followed by a coming together with his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, causing his own retirement although Button recovered to brilliantly win the race.
Ecclestone told the Independent that Hamilton has actually been driving well, and is delivering a style of racing that the fans want to see.
"People have been wrong to rubbish Lewis," Ecclestone said. "What we want is people racing, and all the people who watch it want that. If you analyse what's been happening and how other drivers have been performing, Lewis shows up very well, and so do Sebastian [Vettel] and Jenson [Button]. So let him race. That's what people like him do. I was very, very good friends with [Ayrton] Senna, and if you look at what he did, he was a racer too, and people had to move over for him.
Ecclestone also said that Hamilton is not the only driver to be involved in incidents at each race, but that those occurring away from the front are not being analysed to the same extent.
"Perhaps Lewis has made one or two questionable moves, but so have many of the others, and nobody bothers to look what's happening further down the field. It's always been like this. We saw a lot of people racing in Canada on Sunday, and Jenson did a super job. That's what the fans want to see."
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