Bernie Ecclestone has pulled out of an appearance at the opening of a leisure centre at the Nürburgring – location for this weekend’s German grand prix – as the furore over his remarks about Adolf Hitler refuses to abate.
A spokesman said simply that the Formula One figurehead had cancelled his visit. It is understood, though, that Ecclestone will still be attending the race this weekend, but his position has been hit further by a statement from CVC, the private equity group that owns the commercial rights to Formula One, expressing “shock” at comments made by the 78-year-old. Guardian.co.uk
But the Formula One commercial rights-holder is adamant that he will not step down in the wake of the international furore prompted by his comments.
Ecclestone came in for global condemnation for claiming that Hitler’s undoing came when the Nazi leader “got lost” during his dictatorship - during which six million Jews and other victims of his regime died in concentration camps - and denigrating the merits of democracy, describing the 2003 toppling of Hussein at the hands of Britain and the United States as “terrible” in removing “the only one who could control’ Iraq.
Ecclestone, however, has since sought to play down what he said as “all a big misunderstanding”, blaming not The Times - the newspaper in which the interview was published - but rather his own maladroitness in being so “unwise (as) to articulate my points so badly that (they) should have been so widely misunderstood” and insisting that he is in no way “an admirer of dictators, who rule by terror”.
“It was never my intention to hurt the feelings of any community,” he urged in a subsequent interview with German newspaper.
“I did not put Hitler forward as a positive example, but simply noted that, before his appalling crimes, he acted successfully against unemployment and the economic crisis.”
“I unreservedly apologise for the remarks I made regarding Hitler in a recent interview,” he added in an official statement.
“I should never have been so foolish as to have been drawn into discussing these people but the fault was entirely mine, which I deeply regret.” Yahoo! Eurosport
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