German cancels Ecclestone meeting

• Bernie Ecclestone controversy leads to summit cancellation
• 'I did not put Hitler up as a good example'

Bernie Ecclestone was at the centre of yet another Formula One controversy last night as a German politician cancelled a meeting scheduled this weekend to discuss the future of the country's round of the world championship after his recent observations about Adolf Hitler.

Günther Oettinger, the prime minister of Baden-Württemberg where the Hockenheim circuit is situated, was due to meet Formula One's commercial rights holder at this weekend's German grand prix at the Nürburgring, to discuss whether to continue alternating the race between the two circuits.

Yesterday, however, Oettinger made it clear that he would not be meeting Ecclestone after his comments about Hitler, which were published over the weekend, saying that at least dictators like him got things done. His comments attracted widespread condemnation from politicians and Jewish groups across Europe.

Ecclestone made an effort to clarify his remarks in an interview with the newspaper Bild, although it stopped short of a retraction or apology. "I did not put Hitler up as a good example‚" Ecclestone was quoted as saying. "But [I] simply pointed out that before his terrible crimes, he had acted successfully against unemployment and the economic crash."

It is notable that Ecclestone's comments should have been made in the run-up to a Formula One grand prix at the Nürburgring. The current track is built on the edge of the old 14-mile circuit, which was originally constructed as a test track for the Nazi-backed German car industry in a bid to reduce unemployment in the Eifel region during the early 1930s.

Yet it is a measure of Ecclestone's influence within Formula One that not one of the teams was prepared to make any critical comment about his outburst. Behind the scenes, and off the record, there was no concealing the teams' exasperation that the sport is left mired in another public relations drama only a week after the FIA president Max Mosley's unseemly vacillations over whether he would stand for re-election again in October – or indeed whether there is a potential peace treaty between the governing body and the eight members of the Formula One Teams Association.

The former world rally champion Ari Vatanen last night emerged as a possible contender to challenge Mosley if the Briton did seeks re-election to the FIA presidency.

"At the moment I am consulting the member clubs and am already seeing positive feedback," said the 57-year-old Finn, a four-times Dakar Rally winner. "I am considering standing. I think the time has come for a change. I would go for it, even if not sure of winning."

Meanwhile, there is continued dispute over whether the Formula One teams new to next year's world championship were told by the FIA that a condition of their entry was that they had to race with Cosworth engines.

While not confirming that this was strictly the case, an FIA spokesman reportedly stated that the availability of an independent supply of Formula One engines for new teams was a priority otherwise "the whole grid would be at the mercy of the car industry and no new team would be able to enter without their permission".