More Mosley

I'm going to move onto a brief Monaco preview later today - travelling early tomorrow - but here is another contribution on the Max Mosley case by my colleague at The Times, Matthew Syed. The best Formula One drivers of all time poll closes tomorrow(Wed) mid-day, so if any of you are still mulling it over, now is the time to go for it. 

Comments

[Mannersaye]

Just got round to reading the letter. Apart from the intro and end paragraphs not a lot appears to be relevant to the issue which is the subject of the FIA meeting on 3 June. Leaving aside any non F1 issues given this is an F1 blog the letter raises a few questions:-

1. Is there any truth that Bernie is looking to go forward with F1 without a deal/agreement with the FIA? Or is that just Max's scaremongering in the letter?

2. Is it possible that Bernie's plan as per 1. above has anything to do with his opinion about whether Max should stay or go? I.e. should we be listening to Bernie on the Max issue at all if he has his own interests at heart?

3. Will Max staying or leaving have any impact as to whether the FIA can strike a deal with Bernie going forward? Seems to me that Bernie holds all the cards and that he can pretty much decide they terms of any deal irrespective of whether the president is Max, Jean Todt or whoever.

4. Does it actually matter whether F1 exists in agreement with or without the FIA? I know the FIA campaigns for safety etc, but so does the GPDA and I can't see F1 becoming less safe without agreement with the FIA. I also don't buy into the argument that the FIA are the ones who will ensure F1 costs are reduced etc going forward hence preserving the sport. I know Super Aguri have just bitten the dust but Bernie surely isn't going to allow F1 simply to implode. And if it did then the manufacturer breakaway series might materialise and that may be no bad thing...

If anything I think that whilst Max may be irrelevant as to what happens with F1 in the future I suppose he makes the FIA more lame that it could potentially be. For that reason alone, bye Max.

[D]

^
While we all wait for Ed to resume despatches after making his way to Monte Carlo, some may enjoy as much as I did, on a train with WiFi yesterday, re-reading this piece of his in the blog last year;

http://timesonline.typepad.com/formula_one/2007/05/i_stood_on_the_.html

It's really good!

[GP]

F1 is absolutely fascinating. Not only is it a captivating sport, it is also a technological marvel as well as an attractive mix of colour and visual design.

And we can now add to all this its impact on societal values such as privacy and the right to spend money as one wishes despite abject poverty in parts of the world, including the very countries where F1 races take place.

The Mosley affair is a complex one. On the one hand there are the implications that Matthew Syed’s writes about relating to societal values. On the other, we have Mosley’s position within the sport and business of Formula One, before and after the prostitutes. Is he fighting for his job by making allegations about a takeover? Ed’s article from yesterday makes it sound like it. Jackie Stewart also thinks so.

Looking at Mosley’s record in office, the success of his tenure to date is debatable. In the recent past, compared to McLaren, Toyota and Renault did not receive the same treatment. This suggests either a personal vendetta or a lack of judgment, or both. Add to that his reaction to the criticism by the likes of Jackie Stewart and Martin Brundle. In Stewart’s case it was incredibly childish and petty. How can someone in his position resort to such personal attacks. In Brundle’s case he could have offered to debate his positions right on the air instead of taking legal action. In my opinion, he displayed deep insecurities and pettiness.

In regards to safety, can he really be the only person in the world who could have accomplished it all? Please!

How about his actions regarding sporting and technical regulations? They could be summed up by contradictions and reversals leading to a great waste of money. For example, the constant changes of engine regulations; driver aids; and, now, going back to slicks. I don’t see any long term vision and stability, just knee jerk reactions best exemplified by the anti-racism campaign.

F1 is entertaining on so many levels. When there is no news on the competitive front we can always expect something to break from the backrooms, or basements.

[JO J]

Matthew Syed says it like it is. Perhaps D and his mates might try reading it.

[D]

^
Having already avowed, comprehensively on this blog, my passionate commitment to freedom and civil liberties (which include the right of people to know if their innocent livelihoods are being threatened by megalomanic sadists presiding over kangaroo courts) it is not my intention to be as inconsiderate as Jo J and bore everybody else here rigid by repeating it every time he/she attempts to raise yet again two issues, unconnected with motor racing, that have already been debated here to their ultimate conclusion on several previous occasions.

[Weasel]

For a Formula 1 and motorsports blog Matthew Syed's piece misses the point entirely - never mind eh Matthew? Maybe next time you'll understand motor sport is about multi-coloured whizzy things with wheels that go awfully fast in wiggly circles, not about whiny liberal crybabies shouting 'it's not fair'. I have news for you - neither is life, fair that is, so get over it.

That having been said, the crux of the matter with Mosley and his position in the FIA is very simply: Is he in a position to carry out his function effectively? The answer is a resounding no. That is it, lock, stock and barrel.

Civil liberty and right to privacy are long gone from this equation and no longer pertinent to the outcome. It has to do with one thing and one thing only: job performance.

That Mosley offended so many people by his sexual activities makes him unacceptable to many and many who count.

Was his privacy invaded? Probably, but after all, he wanted his session video recorded for his later delectation and that was a choice he made and a risk he took. He rolled the dice and lost. No video and it all becomes hearsay, but by the very act of having the session recorded, the whole dynamic changed.

Mosley's continuing haughty arrogance and patronizing attitude are symptomatic of a very flawed and fragile ego - huge ego = little self worth. He upset a lot of people and now the chickens have come home to roost. The old adages 'Pride comes before a fall' and 'what goes round comes round' have never rung more true. As you climb your way up the ladder be careful who you tread on lest they tread on you on your fall back down.

Mosley will depart and fade into insignificance, which was all he ever deserved in the first place.

[JO J]

D-ouglas,
I searched all your blogposts on this subject and could find nothing to lead me to believe that you have a .. "passionate commitment to freedom and civil liberties".
Perhaps I missed something?
What I did find was repetitive patronising guff.
If this has nothing to do with motor racing why is it written about on a motor sports page?
Slag off MM, demand his resignation, etc but base it on his work record.
The minute you start basing your argument on
a) his private sexual desires
b) information gleaned through the illicit publication of footage of him having sex in private
- you are crossing the line into a separate argument.
At that point I feel more than entitled to repeat what I think.
For me, this is nothing to do with MM and everything to do with the direction a supposedly free society is heading.
I may well be repeating myself but only because the same old ineligible argument is regurgitated on this sports blog.