F1 links: Mosley tells all
13th December 2009, 1:01 by Keith Collantine 19 Comments »
Max Mosley: the inside story on McLaren’s ‘spygate’ and the F1 teams breakaway (Daily Telegraph)
"But for me, personally, "spygate" and its consequences marked a new era. The view that I was too aggressive, too confrontational and perhaps even a bully was peddled non-stop. I was blamed (wrongly as it happens) for the size of the fine. So when Formula One confronted a real problem just over a year later I was less well placed to deal with it. And my situation was worsened by revelations about my private life, notwithstanding a big vote of confidence by the FIA and successful litigation against the newspaper responsible."
Massa gratitude for Ferrari’s heartfelt support (Ferrari)
“I want to thank each one of you for your support after the accident. What happened to me this year was unbelievable and I took so much strength from you to recover as quickly as possible. The heartfelt warmth I felt from Ferrari is something I will never ever forget as long as I live. I assure you that my determination to get back on track and to win has never been this strong!”
Hamilton-Renault F1 rumours (Joe Saward’s Grand Prix Blog)
"The latest rumour, however, is more interesting as it suggests that one of those sniffing around Renault is none other than Anthony Hamilton, father of you-know-who."
We’re losing money by keeping F1 at Silverstone reveals Bernie Ecclestone (Daily Mail)
Asked if he could have made more money elsewhere, F1 rights holder Ecclestone said: 'Definitely, a lot more, an awful lot more. There are other places desperate for races but there was no more money in Europe. I got fed up with the whingeing and moaning. It has taken too long, but now Silverstone can get on with it for years to come and make a fortune."
These are links I’ve bookmarked using Delicious. You can see my Delicious profile here.
Adam said on 13th December 2009, 2:00
Bernie gets the last childish dig in at silvi. He dosent give a damn about f1 and it’s history.
A man completely driven by money. I kinda feel sorry for him
Matthew H said on 13th December 2009, 5:08
Ecclestone should play Ebenezer Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol”. He looks the part, stick the hat on his head, put him in a night-gown and some slippers.
Who will play the ghosts of past present and future is the question?
And what will those Ghosts say and show?
PJA said on 13th December 2009, 14:49
Ecclestone is trying to set himself up as the good guy and the saviour of the British Grand Prix because he could have made more money by going elsewhere.
rfs said on 13th December 2009, 2:01
lol @ the Hamilton rumour.
wasiF1 said on 13th December 2009, 2:08
Massa ids right,his team has supported him very strongly indeed.
Hamilton leaving Mclaren is the worst that can ever happen in his career,I think Antony Hamilton wanted to know whether Reanult are staying in F1.
Can’t Bernie stop taking about Money.
Prisoner Monkeys said on 13th December 2009, 2:27
Very interesting article from Mosley there. It’s easy to say that he’s making it all up to try and justify the last few years of his presidency, but I think that’s a narrow-minded approach to take. Maybe he embellished the truth. Maybe he didn’t. There’s no way to tell for certain, but that doesn’t mean he’s automatically wrong.
Take the FOTA action he discusses in the econd half ofthe article. There was a lot going on during that episode that we never saw or heard about, and some of Mosley’s comments confirm what I suspected at the the time: it was not FOTA who wanted the breakaway, but the manufacturers. The manufacturers would have continued to spend, spend, spend if it meant they would be more competitive, and they would do it at a time when no-one could really afford to. They would naturally be opposed to any moves to stop tht advantage, and they no doubt leaned heavily on Brawn, Williams, Red Bull and Force India to join them because those teams all depended upon the manufacturers for support. People called for Mosley to be removed, or for the breakaway to go ahead, but without the FIA to oppose FOTA, the sport would simply have collapse under the weight of its own excess. That’s not to say that Mosley is a hero, but a necessary evil. Sometimes he overstepped his mark, but that was always better than to consider a sport without a ruling body to be the Devil’s Advocate.
I don’t think Mosley was nearly as evil as everyone makes him out to be. Nor was he stupid; he’s clearly an intelligent person. His problem is that he is frequently in a position – like the McLaren espionage affair – where he has two choices, and neither of them are particularly good.
Accidental Mick said on 13th December 2009, 12:11
@ PM
I have gone right off you. I enjoyed hating Mosley and Ecclestone and you’ve ruined it by being all reasonable and open minded.
Red Andy said on 13th December 2009, 12:39
Broadly I agree, PM. Max did have some daft ideas, but in a lot of those cases (like the two-tier system) they were meant to be used as a bargaining chip to negotiate acceptable terms with the teams. He was an extremely political animal, which – regrettably – is exactly what F1 needed when the financial crisis hit its hardest. Now that stability has been restored (we hope), a more cooperative player like Todt may be the best man to lead the FIA and F1 forward.
Xanathos said on 13th December 2009, 13:09
I think Max was aware of the fact that no one would ever accept the stupid two-tier system or the 30M budget cap. That was just part of his usual negotiation style: Ask for the impossible to get the absolute maximum (which he got: significant cost cuts).
His biggest problem were not the dictatorship allegations, but his big ego and his personal feud against Ron Dennis, Flavio Briatore and others.
James_mc said on 13th December 2009, 3:36
“He was less well-placed to deal with it”… Ok I understand that but why the complete difference in penalties. Surely it would have been easier to dish out the same penalties?
Prisoner Monkeys said on 13th December 2009, 4:30
You didn’t read the article, did you? Mosley’s not talking about Renault at all. He only talks about the espionage incident and the FOTA breakaway; in fact, Keith didn’t even mention Renault. The headline is quite clear, and the last line of the article is this:
This is kind of what I was talking about in the post above: you’ve already established guilt before you’ve seen all the evidence.
I’m expecting that this will be the first of a few articles by Mosley, telling the story from his side of the conflict. The reason for the difference is no doubt something that will be explored in greater detail elsewhere, probably a second article. Until then, you could do worse than actually reading the articles before you comment on them.
James_mc said on 13th December 2009, 13:29
PM – How correct!
(In my defence it was half-3am….!)
I took the “less-well placed” to mean referring to Renault/Piquet… Even now reading it properly I still get that inference (just the way it is written/my interpretation although I know he’s talking about FIFA/FOTA)
It will be interesting to see his side of the story, I think from some of his attacks on people when he was president though he has learned not to be too gung-ho with his criticisms
IDR said on 13th December 2009, 5:52
Thanks Keith for this link, very interesting reading.
What I have found very enlightening talking about “Spygate”:
These lines destroy much of the views and opinions that were written in British press about Spygate, and IMHO, fully deserve an article in full.
For the FIA/FOTA row, is interesting to read “the other part” view, but IMHO doesn’t add so much, I still maintain my own view: FOTA wanted to talk not only about costs but revenues distribution also, and FOTA doesn’t want to talk to MAX.
The problem was solved when Bernie started to talk about a new Concorde Agreement, and Max’s head were offered to them.
Keith Collantine said on 13th December 2009, 9:42
That’s not new information, is it? I remember reading the “from our mole” email at the time.
IDR said on 13th December 2009, 10:58
If you remember it, I cannot say anything. You have tons of better memory and information than me.
I can only say, I was not aware a part of Engineers of the Designing Team were involved with some evidence, and I did not remember any site at that time highlighting that proven fact.
Anyway, at that time I was not an active reader of your blog, so I will have to make a review in F1 Fanatic archive to see what was your view on that!!!
I was not pretending to make you work further on this topic!!
Alex Cooper said on 13th December 2009, 10:53
Interesting that the week after a highly rated speaker makes a more-than-valid contribution to the F1 Forum about controversies in the sport (and says that F1 needs to clean itself up), Max digs up a story from two years ago.
Could this be anything to do with Ron Dennis’ appearance in Abu Dhabi, the moment that Max no longer holds office?
Grow up, Max. The world and its uncle knows your views on Spygate, McLaren and Ron.
PJA said on 13th December 2009, 15:06
The Mosley article reminds me of when he had a column in F1 Racing magazine. Like any politician if you listened to him you would think he is being reasonable and fair minded and wonder why everyone doesn’t agree with him.
Clooney said on 17th December 2009, 2:34
Get a life Max. While you are still brewing your poison & bitterness, Rod Dennis is building the world’s next supercar. And people are putting their names down on the waiting list. The only people on Max’s waitimg list are hookers, I suspect.
Clooney said on 17th December 2009, 2:34
I mean Ron Dennis.