Max Mosley Repsonds To Statements From Teams

Max Mosley Repsonds To Statements From Teams

Despite staying away from the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend at the request of the Bahraini Royal Family, Max Mosley is still hitting the headlines as the Formula One teams break their silence and openly criticise the FIA president over his recent behaviour. German manufacturers BMW and Mercedes issued a joint statement which made it very clear they wished to distance themselves from Mosley. Honda and Toyota have issued statements effectively saying the same. And finally, Max responded to these statements in a manner which I feel inclined to describe as a little cry-babyish.

Mosley was initially thought to be considering attending the Bahrain race this weekend, but soon cancelled his trip due to his time being taken up by lawyers. However, The Times is now reporting that the Crown Prince of Bahrain sent Mosley a letter in the week asking the president to stay away, echoing Bernie Ecclestone’s feelings on the matter.

In light of the allegations, I suspect you may be deliberating on your planned attendance at the Grand Prix here in Bahrain later in the week. I therefore felt it important to convey the position of Bahrain and its people.

Clearly of paramount importance is the success of the event for all concerned — the Kingdom of Bahrain, Formula One and spectators. The focus quite rightly should be on the race.

With great regret, I feel that under the current circumstances, it would be inappropriate for you to be in Bahrain at this time. Crown Prince of Bahrain.

It has to be said, the Crown Prince has very diplomatic and polite way of wording things.

So that is Max’s get out of jail free card for this race, but he has however had to respond to criticsm from the companys that keep everything ticking over in the premier sport under the FIA’s umbrella, Formula One.

The content of the publications is disgraceful. As a company, we strongly distance ourselves from it. This incident concerns Max Mosley both personally and as President of the FIA, the global umbrella organisation for motoring clubs. Its consequences therefore extend far beyond the motor sport industry. We await a response from the relevant FIA bodies. Joint Statement From BMW & Mercedes.

Toyota Motorsport does not approve of any behaviour which could be seen to damage Formula One’s image, in particular any behaviour which could be understood to be racist or anti-Semitic.

Senior figures within any sport or business, including motorsport, must adhere to high standards of behaviour. When all the facts are known, it will be for the FIA to decide whether Mr Mosley has met the moral obligations which come with the position of FIA President. Toyota Statement.

It is necessary that senior figures in sport and business maintain the highest standards of conduct in order to fulfil their duties with integrity and respect. The Honda Racing F1 Team is extremely disappointed by recent events surrounding Mr Mosley and we are concerned that the reputation of Formula One and all its participants is being damaged.

We request that the FIA gives this matter careful consideration and reaches an immediate decision in the best interests of F1 and Motorsport. Honda F1 Statement.

Unfortunately for Max, who vowed to fight on and not stand down in a letter sent to all members of the FIA, I agree with the words said by the teams. Whether Max has committed a crime or not, his behaviour is not acceptable for the president of the FIA. Fair enough, up until last Sunday it was private to Max and who he decided to share it with, but now the News Of The World has brought Max’s personal life into the public domain, it simply cannot be ignored. The News Of The World may have invaded Mosley’s privacy, but that is a different matter that should be addressed separately.

The fact remains that Max has brought Formula One into disrepute. The very fact that the Crown Prince of Bahrain does not want Mosley to attend the race this weekend sends a very clear message out; Max cannot continue doing his job effectively. On Wednesday there was a Motor Sport Business Forum in Bahrain, where key figures from the motor sport world outlined their thoughts on the future of motor racing. Mosley was not in attendance.

How can the president of the FIA effectively do his job when he has been asked to stay away, a direct result of his behaviour away from the race track? The simple answer is that he cannot.

Max has responded to BMW and Mercedes, stating that he wished the manufacturers had spoken to him first.

Given the history of BMW and Mercedes Benz, particularly before and during the Second World War, I fully understand why they would wish to strongly distance themselves from what they rightly describe as the disgraceful content of these publications.

Unfortunately, they did not contact me before putting out their statement to ask whether the content was in fact true.

No doubt the FIA will respond to them in due course as I am about to respond to the newspaper in question. Max Mosley.

I love the line Mosley uses when he notes that the teams did not contact him prior to releasing the statement. It basically says that his publicised letter to the members of the FIA was clear enough. If people still have to ask Max if what occurred is true or not, it says that he is yet to confirm it either way properly.

Some people will be using this saga as an excuse to push for Mosley’s resignation, something a lot of folk have been trying to do for many years. However, I’m using this whole saga as a reason to ask for Max’s resignation. He cannot do his job as effectively as before, it is as simple as that. He is damaging the sport’s reputation and hindering the progress of Formula One and the motoring industry.

9 comments

  • “Given the history of BMW and Mercedes Benz, particularly before and during the Second World War…”

    ouch, the two of them are really going to appreciate that being brought up again!

    he’s not going down without a massive fight, is he?

    I corrected your typo. Let me know if I got it wrong – Ollie.

  • Unfortunately not. This whole affair is going to drag on, and on, and on… further embarrassing himself, his family and the sports which he controls via the FIA.

  • But he surely can’t stay on? I’m wondering if he’ll manage to stay beyond the end of the Bahrain weekend.

    Are we taking bets on what his line is when he stands down?

    I’m going with him saying that he’s standing down so that he can focus his energies on the upcoming legal fight with the NOTW.

    Not because the whole of F1 is shouting for him to go….

    I wonder if the laughter has subsided in Woking yet?

  • I wonder if the laughter has subsided in Woking yet?

    I reckon Ron Dennis celebrated by visiting Chelsea and spending five hours with five ladies… [/joke]

    By the way, I like the title of your site, Gregor.

  • You know, people keep telling me what a brilliant legal brain Max has but, as far as I can see, the man is a complete stranger to logic. It seems that, because BMW and Mercedes made tank and aero engines for Germany during WWII (and what else were they supposed to do?), they must shut up – but Max must be allowed to say whatever he likes in spite of his murky political past (it was not just his father). F1 has been decent enough to him in not bringing up such things and he must take the consequences of re-introducing them himself.

  • Hold on a minute. If Max is going to bring up the war, surely it says something about the way Max thinks. If he thinks that Mercedes and BMW were so vociferous in their rejections because of World War II, is his own defensiveness over the Nazi allegation specifically based on his desire to distance himself from his past more than reality? I hope not, but the nagging feeling is in the back of my head now 🙁

    I think he’ll stay on until he is forced out, either by being expelled (in which case don’t expect anything until at least the Extraordinary General Assembly meeting, which must be between May 8 and May 15) or by not being voted into office again at the end of 2009. Until I read this statement, I strongly believed it would be the latter. Now I’m not so sure…

  • Well said Clive !

    It was interesting to read Theissen’s reply to Mosley’s reply:

    “we have not commented on the substance and the question of whether it is true or not. We have commented on the public perception of the situation. And that doesn’t need any discussion or explanation.”

    and then …

    “But let me add one other thing. This entire issue is in focus now, but what shouldn’t be neglected is it certainly looks like a trap. And that is something which in our view is not acceptable either.”

  • I’m sure Max was happy that it was the two German teams and the two Japanese teams that spoke out against him, but it doesn’t change apples into oranges.

Follow BlogF1