Mosley given support

Sponsors not put off by FIA president's behaviour, says Force India's Mallya

Last updated: 8th April 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Mosley given support

Mosley: uncertain future

A hard-nosed businessman will make a decision on spending money in Formula One, irrespective of the Mosleys of this world. They are not going to dictate the economic benefits.

Force India co-owner Vijay Mallya
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Force India co-owner Vijay Mallya has played down the seriousness of the scandal that has engulfed FIA president Max Mosley.

The billionaire Kingfisher Airlines supremo is of the opinion that sponsors 'don't care' about the lurid sexual allegations surrounding Mosley.

Whilst Mallya admits the recent stories published in the News of the World about Mosley are 'positively shocking', he is adamant it is a case of 'who cares?'.

"The focus and attention now is: what is Max's future?" Mallya said.

"It isn't that the popularity of the sport or its future is in question as a result of what has happened.

"Formula One is great, growing, very popular, fantastic, so business rises above it all.

Hard-nosed

"A hard-nosed businessman will make a decision on spending money in Formula One, irrespective of the Mosleys of this world. They are not going to dictate the economic benefits.

"It is very clear Formula One in general is a huge advertising platform because of the number of eyes viewing the TV, second only to the Olympics and the World Cup.

"As a businessman, I have used Formula One as a platform for the past 12 years, and now other businesses can use Force India as their platform to reach out.

"That is not going to be affected by Mosley or anybody else. I've my sponsors and they don't care.

"They don't really know who Mosley is and don't care who he is!

"You could ask the question as to what will the Indian public, fans and potential fans of F1 and Force India think.

"Fortunately, Force India is insulated from it because people are generally proud that India has a team on the grid, something that has never happened before.

"It is a reflection of the new modern India and new modern Indian.

"The popularity of our team is growing in leaps and bounds, as is the popularity of Formula One as a sport."