Bernie Ecclestone has found himself in even hotter water today after comments he allegedly made to reporters. According to the Daily Mail, the FOM Chairman reacted angrily to being informed that the World Jewish Congress had called for his resignation.
‘It’s a pity they didn’t sort the banks out,’ he is quoted as saying by the Mail.
‘They have a lot of influence everywhere,’ he added.
The sinister nature of Ecclestone’s reported comments – which come days after a furore over his Hitler remarks – will not go down well with German companies ahead of this weekend’s German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring. A number of high-ranking German officials have called for Ecclestone not to attend the event because of his words in recent days.
The row surrounding Ecclestone does not bode well for the future of the sport either. The existing management – Ecclestone and FIA President Max Mosley – was already seen to be anachronistic. But teams with squeaky-clean brand images cannot afford to be associated with a condonement of Adolf Hitler, especially if – like BMW and Mercedes – they are German. Rumours that are probably unfounded have linked the German teams to a boycott of the grand prix on Sunday in protest at Ecclestone.
But a spokesman for Germany’s Central Council of Jews called for teams to abstain from working with Ecclestone nonetheless.
‘No team should work with him any more – a boycott would be more than appropriate.’
Such problems add to the conflagration surrounding the new rules, which the FOTA teams are not allowed to help construct until they submit unconditional entries. The FOTA teams believed they had overcome this particular hurdle with the Paris agreement last month, but that does not appear to be the case.
