Formula One news
Mosley braces FIA for tough phase
26 June 2009FIA president Max Mosley has warned the governing body's World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in Paris that the sport of Formula One should be prepared for 'difficult times' following the actions of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) this week, confirming that their apparent peace deal has now disintegrated.
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With fans across the globe delighted to see a compromise found between the FIA and FOTA on Wednesday, the opposite effect is now likely to be seen as Mosley has said on Friday that the teams have not kept their end of the deal. With FOTA having seemingly branded Mosley as a 'dictator' in F1 and wished him a 'good retirement' on Thursday, Mosley has responded with a letter of caution to the WMSC in Paris, stressing the it is and always will be the FIA - and not FOTA - which runs the sport.
'It is disappointing that (Luca) Montezemolo (FOTA chairman) did not keep his part of the bargain we made last Wednesday,' reads Mosley's letter to the rest of the FIA. 'I had anyway decided not to offer myself for re-election next October and, given what I have had to contend with during the last 12 months, I needed a peaceful summer before starting a more leisurely existence. The compromise we found was therefore acceptable to me personally and seemed in the overall interests of Formula 1.'
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| Luca di Montezemelo, Ferrari president and FOTA chairman |
The letter went on to confirm that FOTA may well now set up its own breakaway series and that F1 could suffer as a result: 'But when FOTA falsely claimed that they had ousted me and imposed their will on the FIA, the situation became intolerable. No doubt we face a difficult period. This may well result in short-term problems in Formula 1. It is possible that FOTA will set up an independent series. That is their right, provided they do so under the International Sporting Code.
But the Formula 1 World Championship will continue to be run by the FIA as it has been for 60 years. The Championship has had difficult times in the past and no doubt will again in the future but that is no reason to hand control to an outside body, still less one with little or no understanding of sporting ethics and under the control of an industry we have constantly to monitor.'
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| FIA president Mosley is understood to be furious with FOTA's actions |
Mosley also added that the various sporting committees of each country connected with the FIA are in agreement with the Paris-based federation. 'Member clubs of the FIA from all over the world have made it clear that they will never allow the car industry to decide who may and who may not be president of the FIA,' the letter reads on.
'This has nothing to do with me as an individual, it is about the independence of the FIA and its member clubs as defenders of the motorist and arbiters of international motor sport. In addition to motor sport, the FIA has to defend the interests of the motorist in areas such as road safety and the environment and even basic things like access to technical information for independent garages. This often brings us into conflict with the car industry. When we started EuroNCAP (safety tests scheme), one of the major manufacturers threatened to quit Formula 1 if we did not abandon our activities. The FIA has to be free to confront the car industry whenever necessary.'
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