BMW boss disgusted by Ecclestone's Hitler comments

By Alan Baldwin

NUERBURGRING, Germany (Reuters) - Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone's praise of Adolf Hitler was wrong and disgusting, BMW-Sauber team boss Mario Theissen said on Thursday.

In the first public condemnation from a senior figure within the paddock, Theissen told reporters that he expected the 78-year-old Briton to make a further apology when he arrived at the German Grand Prix circuit.

Ecclestone caused outrage when, in an interview with the Times Saturday, he commented on Hitler's ability to "get things done."

The comments prompted a German Jewish group to call for a boycott of Formula One while the premier of the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg cancelled a scheduled meeting with Ecclestone at the Nuerburgring.

Ecclestone has since apologised repeatedly and unreservedly, saying he was "extremely distressed and embarrassed" that he might be thought to be supporting such people as the Nazi dictator.

"I would say obviously wrong, disgusting," Theissen, a German, said when asked for his opinion of what Ecclestone had told the newspaper.

"Apparently he was shocked himself when he was confronted with what he has said. He has made some comments meanwhile and as I have heard, he will make some more comments as soon as he is here and I think this is necessary."

The original Nuerburgring circuit, built in the 1920s, hosted 11 grand prixs before World War Two with Hitler a spectator on at least one occasion in an era when the state-backed Mercedes and Auto Union cars were dominant.