Domestic Appliance or 237-mph Qualifier?

Formula 1 racing has its occasional firestorms - and you think last week's fiasco at Indy would have stuffed Bernie Ecclestone's publicity maw for a while.

You would, of course, be wrong.

Maybe Ecclestone was trying to be funny last weekend during an interview at Indy when he commented on Indy fourth-placer Danica Patrick's groundbreaking 500 drive. Or maybe he thought he was at Target? "Women should be all dressed in white like all other domestic appliances," Ecclestone said - and then later reiterated in a phone call he placed to Patrick, ostensibly to congratulate her for her IRL driving.

Patrick says she was utterly confused by Ecclestone's comments. "I can't believe that he would say it to me over the phone, not to my face, but directly to me," she told the AP. "I don't know if he was talking about someone else or the majority or what, I'm not really sure. Or, maybe that's his real feeling."

Backhanded compliments like those are usually reserved for Wimbledon and mothers-in-law, aren't they? Formula 1 racing has its occasional firestorms - and you think last week's fiasco at Indy would have stuffed Bernie Ecclestone's publicity maw for a while. You would, of course, be wrong. Maybe Ecclestone was trying to be funny last weekend during an interview at Indy when he commented on Indy fourth-placer Danica Patrick's groundbreaking 500 drive. Or maybe he thought he was at Target? "Women should be all dressed in white like all other domestic appliances," Ecclestone said - and then later reiterated in a phone call he placed to Patrick, ostensibly to congratulate her for her IRL driving. Patrick says she was utterly confused by Ecclestone's comments. "I can't believe that he would say it to me over the phone, not to my face, but directly to me," she told the AP. "I don't know if he was talking about someone else or the majority or what, I'm not really sure. Or, maybe that's his real feeling." Backhanded compliments like those are usually reserved for Wimbledon and mothers-in-law, aren't they?