F1 big four call on shamed Mosley to quit
GO NOW, MAX
EXCLUSIVE by IAN GORDON
SHAMED Max Mosley faces fresh calls to resign today — from ex-world champion Damon Hill, Formula One team chief Mike Gascoyne and two British racing legends.
Respected Briton Gascoyne (above right) becomes the first senior F1 boss to demand the FIA president stands down — 14 days after we broke the story of Mosley’s Nazi orgy with five hookers.
The under-fire 67-year-old multi-millionaire has called for an extraordinary meeting of the governing body on June 3 in a desperate bid to hang onto his job.
But Gascoyne, technical director of the Force India team and a 19-year veteran of the sport with top teams including McLaren and Renault, declared: “It paints the whole of motorsport in a very bad light and someone in that position has to be honourable and consider their position.
Position
“If he wishes to stay, it will devalue his office, which is obviously not good. I think any person in that position has to consider the impact of their actions.”
Hill, who won the world title with Williams in 1996 and is the current president of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, added: “None of us wants to be moralistic about individuals but there has to be an element here to do with the image of the sport and the ability of the premier representative of the sport to continue.
“Businesses connected with the sport want a positive image and politicians want to engage with it because they know motorsport people support those values.”
Five-times Le Mans 24-hour winner Derek Bell was even more damning. He said: “Max has to think of racing instead of himself and stop being so damn selfish. This affair is doing serious damage.
“A man in his position has to bow out gracefully — although that is hardly the right word.
“You just say: ‘I apologise and that’s it, goodbye.’ We’ve had enough crises in F1 over the past few years, we don’t need any more.”
Perversion
Tony Brooks, one of the senior statesmen of the sport in the UK after finishing second in the 1959 world championship, added: “Max has lost status — cavorting around with prostitutes in that manner is not something to be proud of.
“Sexual perversion is something you don’t judge these days but his is a terribly important position, a prestigious position.
“To me he’s dragging the sport into disrepute and that just can’t be right.”
The four men’s demands follow statements from F1 teams Mercedes, BMW, Honda and Toyota plus several of the major motoring federations throughout the world calling for Mosley to quit.
Gascoyne added: “We should be talking about what is a cracking championship on the track, but we’re not. “The scandal is like last year’s Spygate affair. It’s not painting a positive image for the sport.”
