Formula One Head in Hot Water for Remarks About Hitler

LONDON (AP) -- Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone faced criticism from politicians and Jewish groups Saturday after being quoted as saying that Adolf Hitler "got things done."

Odd Sports Quotes

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone, speaking on the topic of leaders with London's The Times newspaper, stated that dictator Adolf Hitler was "able to get things done." Click through for more strange quotes from the sports world.

Gareth Watkins, AP

"I think he's a little b*tch," Denver Nuggets broadcaster Scott Hastings (right) said about Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, amid rumors that Cutler would be traded. He was indeed dealt to Chicago.

Getty Images

"I just have this weird feeling that I'm not going to live a long life," Red Sox relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon said. "That I'm going to die young." He later said, "I was just messing around."

Jim Rogash, Getty Images

"We're talking about practice man. We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice."
-- NBA star Allen Iverson said practice about 25 times at a 2002 press conference after missing one.

Tom Mihalek, AFP / Getty Images

"She's as mean as a snake. She reminds me of me."
-- Tennis great Martina Hingis on Maria Sharapova

Carl De Souza, AFP / Getty Images

"I got my family to feed."
-- Basketball star Latrell Sprewell, citing his rationale for rejecting a $21 million contract

Lisa Blumenfeld, Getty Images

"Well, Rickey's not one of them, so that's 49 percent right there."
-- Rickey Henderson, responding to a report that 50 percent of baseball players use steroids

James A. Finley, AP

"I'm all for it."
-- John McKay, coach of a terrible Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad, when asked what he thought about his team's execution

George Rose, Getty Images

"The word genius isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
-- Football analyst and former player Joe Theismann

Jim Mone, AP

"What does a mama bear on the pill have in common with the World Series? No cubs."
-- Legendary Chicago Cubs broadcaster Harry Caray

In an interview with London's The Times newspaper, Ecclestone expressed a preference for "strong leaders," citing former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Max Mosley, outgoing head of Formula One's governing body, as examples.

He was quoted as saying that democracy "hasn't done a lot of good for many countries -- including this one."

"In a lot of ways, terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was in the way that he could command a lot of people, able to get things done," Ecclestone was quoted as saying.

"In the end he got lost, so he wasn't a very good dictator."

Ecclestone also said the West had been wrong to depose Iraq's Saddam Hussein, saying: "He was the only one who could control that country."

The Board of Deputies of British Jews told The Times that Ecclestone's views were "quite bizarre," and Jewish Chronicle editor Stephen Pollard said he was "either an idiot or morally repulsive." Labour Party lawmaker Denis MacShane told the newspaper that the remarks revealed ignorance of history and "a complete lack of judgment."

f1 head bernie ecclestone shakes driver's hand

f1 head bernie ecclestone shakes driver's hand

Calls to Ecclestone's London office were not immediately returned Saturday.

Ecclestone, who owns F1's commercial rights, is no stranger to controversial remarks. He once said women should dress in white "like all other domestic appliances."

In The Times interview, Ecclestone said that had been a joke, adding: "I would love to have a good lady race driver and preferably black and Jewish, too, but they might take maternity leave."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.