Mosley - an extraordinary man

There is no point in going through everything that Mosley said. It's all on autosport anyway and in the paper. I thought it might be more helpful to offer a flavour of the man we(the Brit-pack) saw at Monza. There he was in the track director's smart office - all grey and glass - dressed immaculately and clearly loving being back in the limelight, even if some of the journos in the room had been among his harshest critics. If Formula One is a competition of egos, Mosley is on pole in that one and he just loves to air his thoughts with the national press.

Mosley knows only one form of defence and that is attack. Attack the papers, attack conservative opinion(including the former Archbishop of Canterbury), attack critics of the FIA and threaten to reveal all about those who brought him down. He sees everything in black and white so there is rarely any room for compromise. Impervious to embarrassment, to shame, he came across as a strange mixture; super-bright, smugly self-assured but also immature. Laughter is never far from his countenace but, like so much of his true self, it is repressed and struggles to escape.

It would be entirely accurate and factual to say that we now know far more about Mosley's true personality and his quirks, than we did, say, seven months ago. We are not supposed to know what we do know, but listening to him you cannot avoid the "whole" personality. I found myself thinking, that like anyone who has harboured a big secret for years - from their wife and family, from their work colleagues and from the world as whole(relevant in the case of a public figure) - that Mosley is now released from that burden and might actually be enjoying life even more, post scandale, than hitherto.

When we were ushered into his lair, we were informed by Woods that this was to be about "the sport" and there were to be no questions about his private life. In fact we were so busy with the Lewis penalty at Spa to start with that the elephant in the room was barely noticeable as it munched on the branches of a nearby tree. (Mosley himself would say that this proves his point as a "pioneer of the new morality"; that in this oh-so-modern world no one gives a damn about even the most bizarre behaviours in a public figure representing millions of people around the world). Eventually we did get round to the elephant and Mosley could not have been more open about it.

The FIA president was happy to discuss anything we cared to raise and at several points he and all of us were struggling to keep a straight face. It was all very British, as you can imagine. His sex life, in his re-telling of it, is more Monty Python than News of the World "sinister" and he is clearly very happy to carry it with him on his arm, as it were, for the remainder of his days.

Mosley is supposed to be standing down next year but don't bet on it. They love him so much in the FIA, they cannot help themselves and have been writing to him in droves pleading with him to stay, or so he says. As he pointed out, it would be very wrong to deny people their wishes...so this king of the castle will carry on and you and I and everyone else are stuck with him.   

Comments

[Weasel]

Ed, I think you should stop feeding his ego by bringing his name up again. While it may be what you call background colour, this is actually a really boring non event. Please spare us further posts of this nature.

[Stelmara]

Ed
Just a cheeky thought but I was wondering if you had the chance to ask the FIA President what he's been up to whilst being away from F1?

Stella :)

[Derek Smith]

What is this about entrapment? If what he did was not, as he says, anthing to be ashamed of (consenting people bought off the meat rack and all that), if it was this perfect little picnic he's suggested, and if he organised it all, then who has lured him? He's bastardising the English language.

One wonders if he can see that what's likely to be written on his tombstone is something alone the lines of: Here lies the man who killed Forula 1. It preceded him into the grave.

[Gary M]

I know I posted this in another post, but thought maybe worth repeating under this post Ed. It highlights to me what kind of man we are dealing with here.

Some quotes from Max Mosley today...

"Any suggestion there is a bias for or against any team or driver is completely untrue, absolutely not. I think it's a reflection, and I'm sorry to say this, of the stupidity of the people who say it because they haven't really thought the thing through and put themselves in the position of the people who have to take these very difficult decisions."

That was Max talking about us stupid fans of F1 who believe that there might bias shown towards Ferrari or a conspiracy against McLaren.

Conspiracy believer = stupid, got that?

Here is his next quotes...

“I believe there is much more to it than that one lady" "It's not from my private life world. I think it's most likely to be something to do with motor racing.

That was Max on what he believes was a conspiracy from within F1 to try and ruin him.

Couldn't make it up could you?

Oh, and thanks Max, president of FIA, for calling a large section your flagship sports fan base stupid. You are 100% correct, we are stupid, stupid for tuning in every couple of weeks to watch this farce you dare call a sport.

[Stelmara]

Ed
:et's get this right once and for all and then let that be the end of any mention of him again in The Times newspaper.
Fact Max Mosley is nothing but a (Edit Moderator)

Stella

By the way, how many women journalists were there with you and Mosley and the other hacks? Enough said?

Ed writes

Hi Stella. There were no women in the room(as there were almost none at Paris when Mosley was endorsed by the FIA). Also to those questioning why I have written about Mosley, the answer is because, unless I am mistaken, he is the head of world motorsport including Formula One.

[Fred]

The only thing he knows is attack - quite. Mosley has been proved to be unfit to hold high office in F1, and I will not be watching the "race" to-day.

GARY M - excellent post!

[Derek Smith]

Could someone explain to Max Rufus that if a gun isn't loaded, no matter how many times you pull the trigger, it won't fire.

Max Rufus loaded the gun and held it to his own head for 40 years. Did he not expect someone to pull the trigger? There is a long, long line of suspects that you'd have on an ID parade. And now that he's laying the groundwork to stay as president for yet another term (well, there's a surprise) it must have gotten a lot longer for the next time.

[PTM]

please tell Max to stop braying!

[Ed Rooney]

I say give Mosley a break. I'd like to see how some of you would fair if your most private and embarrassing moments were surreptitiously videotaped and released for the entire world to see, in what can only be classified as a premeditated smear campaign. Certainly his private life is peculiar and distasteful to some, but were in not for the NOTW invading his privacy we'd all be none the wiser.

Personally, I appreciate Mosley's honesty. I though it was great when he called Jackie Stewart a "certified halfwit", I couldn't agree more. As I see it, Stewart (and Damon Hill for that matter) will do anything to get on television these days in an attempt to prove their relevance, which typically includes trashing the FIA. This was most recently exemplified by their comments after the ridiculously overblown Lewis Hamilton penalty in Spa. But then I guess if I were desperate for attention I'd preach to the choir about the oh so unfair penalty to Lewis - yes, the one that every other current driver in the paddock agrees was 100% legitimate.

Go Max!!!

[Derek Smith]

Ed Rooney

You think it great when the president of an international company resorts to personal abuse? Wow! That's a concept I hadn't considered before.

The fact that the NOTW acted in a manner which most people seem to find repulsive does not take away anything from the fact that Mosley gets his socks off beating women. I don't find this 'peculiar' so much as reprehensible.

He also buys women off a meat rack. I find this equally reprehensible.

Much further down the improper conduct scale, Mosely, by refusing to resign his position immediately the story broke, has brought contempt onto the FiA. I would suggest that any CEO of a major international concern that depends on its image as much as F1 does would have been removed from his post.

He did not receive a vote of confidence by any proper definition of the phrase. A VoC needs to be overwhelming, that's its sole purpose. A simple majority is when they vote for what colour to paint the pace car. A VoC is an attempt to see if one has the confidence of the vast majority.

Further, he retained his position by the representatives of roughly 5% of the membership. He was, by any reasonable standards, trounced. He should have gone then. So 100% illegitimate in my mine.

Jackie did so much for F1 when he was a driver, certainly more than Mosley ever has done. He was never refused entry into countries because the leaders did not want to be seen with him.

Halfwit? If that's so then Mosley has some way to go before he reaches that level because he's nowhere near Jackie. And in a run off between Mosley and Jackie on getting themselves on TV: well I know who's got the biggest lead there.

I don't like being personal on here but how can you describe such disgusting behaviour as personal abuse of a great ambassador for our sport as 'great'?

[Richard]

ED ROONEY - for a man in his position, coming out with insulting remarks about a triple world champion who left such a legacy for today's drivers in respect of safety, says a lot about him, particularly when it seems to be for no other reason than Stewart was critical of the FIA. If anyone connected to the sport made such remarks about Mosley, there would undoubtedly be charges of 'bringing the sport into disrepute' flying around.

One could just as easily argue that anyone who thinks all the other drivers (most of whom have been shown up by LH, and all of whom are in his very large shadow) would say anything to support LH, could be deemed a half wit for not realising they have their own agenda.

I suppose Niki Lauda, Ralf Schumacher, Cesare Fiorio, etc are all certified half wits too for daring to speak out about the FIA's ineptitude.

Mosley is probably irked by the fact that Jackie Stewart has a knighthood when he stands no chance of getting one due to his family's dubious history. Now that Frank Williams has also been knighted, how long will it be before Ron Dennis is given the same honour? I'd love to be a fly on the wall when Max hears about that one!

Richard

The "certified halfwit" remark was unnecessary, but Jackie Stewart, who posesses no legal qualifications, spoke in a manner which suggested otherwise. Jackie has made an immense contribution to F1, but this does not mean that his opinion on any issue relating to F1 is right or relevant.

Mosley made another comment about Stewart during the same discussion which was spot on. It was something like, "he talks so much that he never has time to think".

[Richard]

Mosley made another comment about Stewart: "He goes round dressed up as a 1930s music hall man".

As far as I can tell, Stewart did little more than criticise the $100m fine imposed on McLaren, which he called unjustifiable. He also cast doubt that the FIA decision would have worked in a civil court, but how did Mosley know Stewart hadn't consulted with legal experts before making the remark?

Regarding opinions, there is no right or wrong. Jackie Stewart expressed him opinion, and he had to endure humiliating insults from Mosley because his opinion wasn't favourable to the FIA.

If you ask me, Mosley's attempts to humiliate in public, and beat others down with his power and his intellect are extensions of the character traits that came to light in the NOTW article.

[Negative Camber]

"Stuck" indeed Ed. Is it me or does his post-scandal edicts seem as off-the-beaten-track as his now unexpurgated scandal images in my brain are? Standard engines, gearboxes, F2 et. al.

It must be said that as a true anglophile, I appreciate the all-very-British concept but tell us Ed, was it really stiff upper lip stuff or did his presence have an air of ninny-like bravado lost in a methodical unhinging from reality? To me relevance is important in leaders. Color me reactionary. ;)

Keep up the good work Ed...I'm relying on you mate. How's that for pressure?