The Strange Case Of Max Mosley’s Increasing Dementia
Written by George Katinger · October 27, 2007
Can anything be worse for F1 than a prolonged drawn out post season legal wrangle over who the current driver”s championship belongs to? Yes, the fact that Max Mosley is no longer concealing his contempt for the F1 teams, engine manufacturer”s, former racing greats, and racing in general. In fact I believe he despises everyone and everything except for himself and Ferrari.
The F1 world has long been contemptuous of Max Mosley”s “leadership” of the FIA, and his blatant support of the Ferrari F1 racing team. Blatant in the sense that he has been overt in supporting decisions that gave Ferrari a leg up in all matters concerning F1 competition.
Now Max has begun to practice the best form of camouflage possible. Hiding his predilections out in the open, under everyone”s nose. He has finally, openly, admitted his overt defense of Ferrari, and his long standing, long time personal friendship with Luca di Montezemolo. No wonder the braying jackass figurehead of Ferrari is getting bolder and bolder in his attacks on all things without a Ferrari brand.
Combine that simple fact with his other recent statements and the direction he is pushing F1, and his sanity has to be called into question.
1. He calls Jackie Stewart a half-wit over Stewart”s disagreement with Mosley”s stripping McLaren of their constructor”s points.
2. He is attempting to impose a ten year freeze on engine development. What is the pinnacle of motor sport with out cutting edge advancements in engineering and efficiency?
3. He has previously expressed his scorn for the car manufacturers in the sport, stating they will leave when it suits them. His engine freeze proposal is no doubt a strong shove in their collective backs to prove his point.
4. His foisting of a common ECU unit on the teams to prevent “cheating is yet another misguided direction at pushing the sport into a common template series.
5. His roughshod treatment of McLaren, with no sense of objective evaluation of hard facts or punishment commensurate with the alleged crime is universally reviled. Except in Maranello of course.
6. He is prejudging McLaren”s appeal with his statement that even if McLaren are proven correct in the facts of their fuel appeal, it may not change the point”s standings and Kimi”s championship.
Like all things that start out well and end up poorly, it”s time to end Max Mosley”s tenure as head of the FIA. The beginning of his stewardship was greeted with relief and slowly inexorably declined into meddlesome mediocrity and unbridled favoritism. If there is no legal method of removing a sitting FIA president who is no longer serving the interests of motor sport and wants to become bigger than the sport itself, then it”s time for more radical action. Let Max ruin F1 and form that new series the manufacturers have previously threatened. Sooner rather than later the business interests that have sunk 2 billion dollars into the purchase of F1 will seize Max by the scruff of his dictatorial neck and send him into the night, never to be heard from again.
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I’m stunned it took this long for someone to notice — or at least write about — what I’ve been seeing for years. Max Mosley has slowly morphed into the “revered” Jean-Marie Balestre. Or Jean-Marie Bluster, as Senna called him (at least I think it was Senna, or is that an F1 urban legend?). I too thought Mosley would be a breath of fresh air. But first, he was a figurehead of Bernie Ecclestone’s, then he went his own way and read all the notes of Balestre on how to alienate everyone except Ferrari (Balestre himself preferred Prost). And now he calls JYS a half-wit? Preposterous. It isn’t as if no one cannot see through his barely hidden scorn for Ron Dennis and McLaren or for the car manufacturers. Why there are no more calls for his ouster is baffling.
The reason Maxine is the twit that he has become?
Simple. He’s a lawyer.
P.S. If you paraded around in a costume everyday I’m sure half-wit would be considered a compliment.
Boo - hoo - hoo!
Give it a break, George. Talk about sore loosers.
Max my not be god’s gift to the F1 series management, but your unhealthy love of McLaren clouds your judgement.
Each point you make can be argued 180 degrees differently with an equally rational explanation.
If you were not such a McLaren lover you might have more credibility. As it is, you just sound like a cry baby.
Race series direction always sucks (see Tony George) but we just have to live with it.
To gain the credibility you lack, wait untill McLaren wins it all and then make the same arguments in favor of Ferrari. At least then we would know you might be making an honest, clear headed argument.
Of course, by the time McLaren wins it all, we will all be loooong gone!
Doug, the only thing worse than sore losers (which I don’t consider myself) is an arrogant, loud mouthed winner such as Luca. Even Le Toad has the common sense to lay low with his public spewing, at least for a little while. You should be glad for your team, but you’re beginning to sound more and more like Luca.
Do you really believe that a guy who is supposed to deal fairly with all the teams and then openly says I favor Ferrari and my long time friend Luca the Lip deserves to be in that position? Give us all a break, both of you go away and take Luca with you. Maybe Luca’s next job can be President of FIA where he can REALLY screw all the other teams. Max is hurting the entire sport, but as a blind raging Ferrari fan I don’t expect you to see that either.
And Doug, do you really think a 3 time former champ who has done more for F1 safety than anyone else is a “Half-wit”?
Do you really want a 10 year freeze on engine development??
Do you really want common ECU’s???
Do you really think as a president of a regulatory body he should be shooting his mouth off about pending appeals????
If you wish to argue any of that, or believe any of that, than your a bigger idiot than Max.
And for the record, my favorite all time driver-sportsman-person in motor sport is Alex Zanardi, who just happens to be….Italian.
Mo, parading around in costumes doesn’t make Sir Jackie a half-wit, I believe Max called him a circus clown for that offense. And if you really want to see a circus clown, have you ever seen any of the outfits that Flavio Briatore struts around in? It must make the fashion houses in Milan wince in pain!
Yes I’ll bet the same fashionistas are rolling on the floor laughing at the Mclaren’s t-shirts. It looks like the mechanics are all in their underwear.
They spent so much on their building that they couldn’t afford real shirts.
“only thing worse than sore losers is an arrogant, loud mouthed winner such as Luca”
To be fair, you can add to that list Todt, Ron, Max & Bernie.F1 has become so big that the money/status/power has gone to their collective heads.
As for Max, I still maintain he is Bernie’s hand puppet. If Bernie did not approve of the crap that Max has been promoting e.g. a 10 year engine freeze, he would organise a coup & have Max replaced by another flunky. Max is only doing Bernie’s bidding i.e. bringing the manufacturers to heel. It’s obvious; 2 race engines, control ECU etc. Anything to stop an explosion of spending in the engine war.
Italians talk. Big surprise.
Maybe the mouth leads the head, but it is all part of the wonderful flavor. Luca is no worse than Ron or Frank or Flavio. You may also consider giving Jean Todd a break. ‘Toad” seams a little harsh to a person with a very long history of winning. If I am not mistaken, we race to win! By all accounts, at all levels, Jean Todd is a winner!
Max likes Ferrari - you like Mclaren. You both have a forum. Yes, Max has power over F1, but it takes quite a stretch to say he has caused damage to others with his preference. Remember, all penalties are judged and issued by committee in Paris. And as we have seen, the committee has a mind of it’s own.
‘Blind, raging Ferrari fan’? Now George, try to keep your cool. I am no more of a Ferrari fan than you are of McLaren. Civility, please!
O.K. - I take beck the ‘cry-baby’ crack.
For the record, I called no one a ‘half-wit’. Safety first.
Freeze on the engine? - Requested by the group of lesser teams for economy and competition. I think it’s dumb - but I understand it. I agree, it takes away from F1 mystique as the cutting edge series, but if I remember correctly, you are the one praising competition at all levels of F1. So witch is it George? Cutting edge advantage to the rich or competition spread over all of F1 to create a real DRIVERS series?
Common ECU? - Isn’t McLaren leading that project? If I have no problem with it, why do you?
Pending appeals? - Max has no more control over the Paris committee then you have over your readers. You may set the subject, but we do not have to follow.
I will argue any point I like. Time will tell who is the idiot!
As for Alex - there is no more sympathetic figure in the history of motorsport.
For the record, my all-time favorite is Jimmy Clark …. and if memory serves, he happened to be English!
As usual you’ve toally missed the point. The teams suggested their own engine formula, Max rejected it and shoved the ten year ban down their collective throats, as he did the common ECU. I don’t care who supplies it, McLaren/Microsoft or Ferrari, it’s a dumb idea.
And you have no idea of the power and influence a sitting president or chairman of any committee has to set agendas, make recommendations and generally influence the outcomes of decisions. Your unwillingness to accept this is reflected in the simple fact that Ferrari is the beneficiary of this morons actions. How your tune would change if it were McLaren or Williams who were Max’s favored team!
The key word that Maxi-pad should operate under is “impartial” not “biased” of “favored”.
Doug, don’t ever tell a Scotsman that Jimmy Clark was English, you’ll have a fight on your hands!
Mo’s right about Mosley, but he gets taken off the list of people who can call me from jail at 3 a.m. to come spring them (and if you don’t think it can happen to you, for no good reason — read the paper). Blaming Max Mosley’s puerility on that fact that he’s a lawyer ? We lawyers call that an “ad hominem” attack. That’s like blaming all doctors for . . . oh . . . Mengele for example. As in not fair. What do you do for a living ? I’ sure I can find someone in yor profession to rag on. Doesn’t mean you’re all responsible.
‘As usual(???) you’ve toally missed the point’
Right, I’m always wrong and only you are right.
‘Maxi-pad’ ???
I’ll see you next year, George.
These day’s you are a little too angry for my taste.
P.S. Scotland is still a part of the Empire.
Yes Doug, you missed the point of my posting. You turned my description of Max’s insanity into a Ferrari based comment. There are many Ferrari biased blogs out there, you should spend more time there.
Your choice not mine.
You really sound like a little bitter B!tch on this one. No way around it. Remember when they changed all the rules because Ferrari could not be beat. V10’s to V8’s. I imagine the italians would have a few more trophies in the case if that had not happened and it was a direct shot at Ferrari. It had no other purpose than to reign them in. Considering almost every team is really brittish even though there money may come from Germany Japan or Austria, it is nice to have balance when it seemed the press wanted to just give the title to a brit no matter what. I am not a friend of Max or Ferrari. I root for Kimi. Your insane bitterness this season must be emotionally draining.
Sorry Steve Jones about the lawyer slur. It was just a failed stab at humour. We all know that judging anyone by grouping them into any category is a biased way of looking at the world.
If I ever need “bailing out at 3am” though my first call would be to a bail bondsman. Most lawyers I know are actually very intelligent compassionate people. But the last time a lawyer made bail for anyone I know was…., gee I can’t remember. If that is one of your services then I regret not being able to call you at 3am.
But back to the subject at hand, Mr Mosley has been a thorn in the side of F1 since he arrived. Why do we need an attorney to govern the sport? It’s almost as bad as having an attorney governing our country, or worse yet an attorney and her husband attorney.
P.S. If you make spelling errors on a court paper does it hurt or help your clients? Could you please give us the defiition of puerility? Or is that some lawyer speak for purely?
or better yet define defiition for me.
Finally someone, recognizes the 800 pound Gorilla in the room.
This season proved that ultimately Max sees F1 as the marketing dept. for Ferrari.
Ask any of the other manufacturers whether the playing field is being tilted Ferraris direction, and they will wink and say of course not.
Yes, I support Ferrari. But if you read my comments, they are more general as a rule - not just rah-rah for Ferrari.
This is the only blog I follow.
I enjoy the give and take.
Since the season ended I am unhappy with your anger, George.
Let’s try again next year.
Luca The Lip back peddles as fast as he can. He realizes he can’t bite the hands that protect him!
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/63697
Mosley??? Simple Question When does a Sports Governing Body Chairman have the right to call Sir Jackie names; Lewis Hamilton silly names, and Ron Dennis names. This man is so fond of creating headlines that perhaps he makes these stupid statements to divert attention away from the fact that his dementia has progressed, and everybody in this sport, other than he, is mad. Clearly the only way of having mad Mosley and the mobsters of the FIA removed, is lobbying Max’s Boss, Bernie, to remove Max and his dictatorial team from the FIA. But then Mr E will only put in another luny that jumps to his tune. Such a Farse, credibility is everything, or you have nothing!
Mosley??? Simple Question When does a Sports Governing Body Chairman have the right to call Sir Jackie names; Lewis Hamilton silly names, and Ron Dennis names. This man is so fond of creating headlines that perhaps he makes these stupid statements to divert attention away from the fact that his dementia has progressed, and everybody in this sport, other than he, is mad. Clearly the only way of having mad Mosley and the mobsters of the FIA removed, is lobbying Max’s Boss, Bernie, to remove Max and his dictatorial team from the FIA. But then Mr E will only put in another luny that jumps to his tune. Such a Farse, credibility is everything, or you have nothing!