Mosley threatens u-turn

Controversial F1 boss says he may return.

Last updated: 28th June 2009

Mosley: U-turn

They made the mistake of dancing on my grave before I was buried....I am under pressure now from all over the world to stand for re-election.

Max Mosley
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Barely 48 hours after announcing his retirement, Max Mosley has claimed he is "under pressure from all over the world" to return as FIA president.

The controversial boss fell on his sword earlier in the week in order to quell an uprising among the Formula One teams that had come close to tearing the sport apart.

His promise to not stand for re-election appeared to pacify the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) who had threatened to form their own breakaway series if Moseley continued to push for budget caps.

But in an interview with the Mail on Sunday, 69-year-old accused FOTA of making "false statements and said he was considering reversing his decision to step down.

"They made the mistake of dancing on my grave before I was buried," he told the paper

"It's no good the teams getting a PR agency to claim I am dead and buried when I am standing here as large as life.

Conflict

"I am under pressure now from all over the world to stand for re-election. I don't actually want to. I feel I am a little bit too old.

"When I started I was old enough to be the father of the younger Formula 1 drivers; now I am old enough to be the grandfather of some of those driving today.

"Although I don't feel old, I must seem very old to them. It definitely needs somebody new from that point of view.

"Generally, when you have done something for 16 years, as I have done, it's about time to stop. You get a little bit stale.

"I do genuinely want to stop. But if there is going to be a big conflict with the car industry, for example, with the FOTA teams, then I won't stop.

"I will do whatever I have to do. It's not in my nature to walk away from a fight."

Personal attack

Moseley also launched a startling personal attack on FOTA chairman Luca di Montezemolo, accusing him of being a joke figure among his contemporaries after the Ferrari president referred to him as a 'dictator'.

"Complete lies have been told," Mosley added. "That was obviously very annoying and not just for me.

"I don't really expect Luca will apologise or withdraw in the way that he should. Yet, on the other hand, within the motorsport world nobody takes him seriously.

"He's seen as what the Italians call a 'bella figura'.

"He's chairman of Fiat but the serious individual who runs it is Sergio Marchionne, and I don't suppose he takes much notice of Luca.

"When Di Montezemolo comes out with things that are picked up internationally, when people in the UK, for example, read this, they tend to believe it.

"And when FOTA say all this nonsense about Boeri replacing me, that also tends to be believed.

"I think once we have all that put to bed and the teams come back to the deal we did, then I will be happy sticking with the deal we made.

"I am working on FIA matters from my office in Monaco. It is business as usual."