Max Mosley scandal: 22 opinions
6th June 2008, 0:44 by Keith Collantine 10 Comments »
On some occasions F1 serves up the kind of huge story that propels it into the news pages instead of the sport columns. In the interest of getting as broad and balanced a debate as possible in these pages I think it’s useful to look beyond this blog for some different perspectives.
So here’s a look at what 22 other bloggers made of Mosley winning the FIA’s vote of confidence and the many questions that remain about the future of Mosley and F1.
FIA “to launch global campaign in support of motorists prosecuted for kerb crawling”? (Fifth Decade) – “Presumably, they did not think that messing about with prostitutes is morally repugnant nor a support for human trafficking, drug use, or the criminal underworld, or even an abuse against women.”
Taking it to the Max (Autocar – Alan Henry) – “Mosley now faces the very real prospect of being a lame duck president, shunned by major Formula One investors and car companies alike.”
Max Mosley: A vote of confidence (Autocar – Andrew Frankel) – “Whether it was right or wrong for such revelations to reach the public domain, the fact is they have, you can’t put them back in the box and Mosley’s authority has been permanently weakened.” (Differing opinions at Autocar.)
Mosley wins, threat of split, fears for British GP (Brits on Pole) – “Gosh, that was a bit quicker than expected.” (The brief meeting took me by surprise as well.)
Max Won (Boo) (La Canta Magnifico Blog) – “The FIA has made the wrong move.”
Mosley, the FIA and the future (Formula 1 Insight) – “Mosley may think that he has brought an end to the saga with this vote but this is merely the beginning.” (See also: Where now, Formula 1?)
Dad was right (Kersal Matters) – “What a complete joke! It has put me off following motor sport for the foreseeable future.”
Max Mosley survives FIA vote (Auto Fiends) – “We’ve been racking our fiendish minds trying to determine exactly what we’d have to do in order to not survive a FIA vote of confidence..”
Formula 1: Mosley Mistress’s Website Lists Blackmail As “Approved Activity” (Auto Racing Daily) – “Was Max at BDSM Disneyland?”
Max Mosley Wins Vote Of Confidence And Remains As FIA President (BlogF1) – “Britain remained relatively quiet and non-controversial, as it has done throughout the whole affair.” (Jalopnik felt likewise…)
Max Mosley wins FIA vote, keeps job (Jalopnik) – Neville Chamberlain the British MSA (Motor Sports Association) thinks everyone should just move on.
How did Max Mosley win vote of confidence with FIA? (InEntertainment) – “Max Mosley is the face of many motorsports, F1 being the most watched, and this does not give off the right message.”
The four invalid votes (Checkpoint 10) – “Unfortunately, the press release didn’t clarify how they were invalid. Therefore, we can only imagine what those 4 renegade ballots might have contained…”
Mosley stays on at FIA (Bards World) – “It is yet another example of why Formula 1 has lost so much appeal in recent years.”
Mosley gets away with it (The Drood Report) – “Makes you wonder just what Max would have to do have done to get fired. Maybe have children involved?”
Max attack – and what comes next? (IHT) – “I’m keeping that rough draft of the story of Max’s departure ready for redeployment at a moment’s notice.” (With Bernie Ecclestone still firmly against Mosley it might be a smart move.)
Tany Gold is Jewish by the way – “Her take on Max’s orgy is nothing short of incomprehensible rhetoric.” (On an article in The Guardian.)
100mph hypocrites (The Bleeding Heart Show) – “Tanya Gold on the screeching hypocrites calling for Max Mosley to quit.” (Another reaction to the same piece, albeit a positive one.)
Did McLaren Money Save Max Mosley? (F1 Underground) – “It’s not difficult to imagine that over the past few weeks many calls we made to these smaller clubs. The sort of calls that contained a message about the well running dry for them if Max isn’t President. Undoubtedly some got the message.”
Max Mosley wins vote to remain FIA President (Formula One Blog) – “Still the sex scandal was Mosley’s big step down. Now people judge and rule, but who cares? He is the winner!”
Magic Max Mosley escapes the chop (Daily Telegraph) – “Mosley’s escape from the hole he was in was arguably the greater stunt. Perhaps Max is a member of the magic circle. I suspect the secret of how he persuaded all those clubs from the far corners of the earth to vote in his favour shall go to the grave with him.” (The Daily Telegraph was the only newspaper to get an interview with Max Mosley after the original story broke. Looks like they’re keen to get another.)
What next? (No damn blog) – “As soon as I heard that Max had asked for an EGM of the FIA to decide on his future as President of that organisation, I was certain that he had already made sure, by whatever means, that he would emerge victorious.”
Rabi said on 6th June 2008, 2:02
“Makes you wonder just what Max would have to do have done to get fired. Maybe have children involved?”
Sad thing is that he’d still survive that.
GeorgeK said on 6th June 2008, 3:06
Score big again, Rabi. As opposed to his “supporters” whose only defense is either his privacy was “violated” or “his deviant acts don’t affect his ability to run his business”, is simply astounding.
How any major host country heads of state will stand up and be photographed shaking his hand (can you wash those please Max, thank you very much!), or major sponsors inviting this scurrilous scion of “you know who” to speak at a corporate function is beyond my imagination.
Yes GF, my imagination (according to you) is no doubt highly limited by my colloquial ethical standards (or lack of open mindedness) but a scum bucket is still a scum bucket, regardless of how his defenders choose to twist the circumstances of his outing. Yes, I readily admit he was outed, but staunchly defend the proposition that his closeted activities have, and will continue to effect, his judgment.
But I am sophisticated enough to recognize (and applaud!) the supreme power play that has won Max a vote that was rigged before the role was called. An evil genius, but none the less evil, that will either be removed or find the F1 fraternity moving to some other form of sanctioning body other than the Max led FIA.
And no, I’m not feeling any better after my rant!
peterg said on 6th June 2008, 7:08
As the FIA membership is unwilling to oust Max (the spineless cowards) it now really falls onto the commercial sector.
How outraged are the sponsors & auto manufacturers? Enough to pull out? Enough to break-away?
Host nations have him on the PNG list…..but will sponsors & autos bite the bullet?
Mosley may really end up being the Robert Mugabe of motorsport, universaly shunned but ever present.
Michael K said on 6th June 2008, 9:39
peterg, you point to something which I mentioned in another thread already:
There doesn’t seem to be any real opposition forming against Max. Most of all the spineless support of Max from BMW (or should I say Theissen) after the vote will have harmed any budding consensus between the sponsors & manufacturers to oust the honourless egomaniac that is Max Mosley.
ADAC and AAA made some initial steps, then others should have joined to build up momentum, with even Bernie sending out signals that he is against Max when it comes down to it.
But no, everyone else just closes the hatches and waits for the storm to pass, BMW even come out and wave the white flag. This reflects badly on the whole F1 community and makes it less attractive for me at least as I want to see sport and not politics of the lowest kind dominating the news about F1.
So, kind F1 community, this storm WON’T pass, and it’s time you get your bloody act together and show some cojones instead of shimmying around the subject and pretending everything is fine!!!
Journeyer said on 6th June 2008, 10:48
But Michael, they ARE pretending, well, some are anyway:
Toyota has accepted the results of the vote.
LDM has taken back his original comments and has said that he’s “happy that Max Mosley has been confirmed as president of the FIA. He has done an excellent job for Formula One in recent years.”
You can check the articles at Planet-F1, amongst others.
Meanwhile, over at Autosport, BMW and Honda have expressed concern about an FIA split. They have both said that they respect the vote, but want the FIA to act on the instability and make it end as soon as possible.
The way I interpret Theissen and Fry’s statements? They’re lying low, but they still want Max to go.
Your thoughts?
Michael K said on 6th June 2008, 11:04
Journeyer, you are right, they try to make it go away by ignoring it, not unlike a little child who covers up his eyes and believes that nobody can see him anymore.
They’re lying low, because they are scared to challenge him for some reason, that for me already shows that they don’t want him to go that badly.
If they would speak out against it they would question the FIA itself, or that is how Max would make it look like.
I think it would be correct to question the FIA itself in this context, as the voting system is just a hoax and the way Max plays the members is of course skillful, but has nothing to do with how an organisation like the FIA should be run. But then again, it has never been run in a different way, so why should they change from within?
The pressure for this change needs to come from the outside, mainly the sponsors as the manufacturers are too scared to challenge the FIA as we can see now.
This is the only way that I can see this being resolved, big sponsors need to step up and say that they’ll withdraw from this sport due to the Mosley affair.
But this is game theory at its finest and the chances are the changes will only start happening once irrevocable damage has been done rather than proactively trying to prevent to ever get to that situation.
This means Max’ll stay in power, the media will still talk about it for a while, fans might turn away, which would then lead to a loss of the F1 brand as a whole, and only then would we see changes.
Unless someone significant would actually step up and at least end this farce for their part. Then it would probably snowball in a way that it brings Max down and could prompt some reform of the FIA as a whole…
I’m dreaming, I know
KB said on 6th June 2008, 11:27
Put this story to bed!
Keith Collantine said on 6th June 2008, 11:30
KB, one of the most powerful men in F1 is trying to get one of the other most powerful men in F1 to resign. It may not be over yet.
Alianora La Canta said on 6th June 2008, 17:33
Thanks for linking to me, Keith. By the way, I’ve also got a more considered response up at my blog (the entry Keith linked to was cobbled together on a PDA during a lunch break).
Oliver said on 7th June 2008, 10:32
It just occurred to me to find out if the National Associations have any business with F1 and the concord agreement. F1 is not a nations cup, its a commercial venture agreement between groups willing to participate in it. Individual Nations to not qualify to get into F1, so Max talking to the National Associations about the dangers of Bernie taking control of it was taking it too far. National Associations do not benefit from F1 in any way