Bernie Ecclestone agreed yesterday that journalists who speak out against their government should be imprisoned.

With Azerbaijan hosting its first Formula One race this weekend, the sport has faced plenty of criticism with campaign groups, Amnesty International being the most recent, calling on the sport to take a public stance against the oil-rich state’s human rights record.

However, when put to Ecclestone that some journalists had been prosecuted for speaking out against president Ilham Aliyev’s regime, he replied: “So they should. It depends what they say. You say they write negative things. It depends what they write.