Formula One
Mosley submits Jun 25th 2009
From The Economist print edition
An end to Formula One’s civil war?
AP/AFP</SPAN> IT WAS 11am in Paris, but high noon for Formula One racing. On Wednesday June 24th at the grand headquarters of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile in the Place de La Concorde in Paris, its aristocratic president, Max Mosley, squared off against the small-framed, big-haired Luca di Montezemolo of Ferrari. Mr Montezemolo was threatening to take the big teams out of Formula One (F1), the world’s leading motor-racing championship, and set up a rival series unless Mr Mosley accepted his demands.
Within two hours Mr Montezemolo had prevailed. Mr Mosley agreed to step down more or less immediately, his decision to impose a £40m ($66m) spending cap on teams participating in the championship was scrapped and the teams won a formal role in the governance of the sport. After several weeks’ talk of the teams driving off, of lawsuits galore and, finally, of compromise, the clash ended in a rout.
For ten years the teams have sought a bigger say in F1. “We’re tired of the present system. We want proper governance that is adhered to,” said John Howett, head of Toyota’s F1 team and vice-chairman of the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA), on the eve of the showdown. “It is difficult to continue with Max there.” Mr Mosley’s involvement in a much publicised sex scandal last year had done little to bolster his position.
Teams backed by big carmakers such as Toyota, Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari (part of Fiat) and Renault had grown frustrated at the autocratic way the sport was being governed by Mr Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone, two British racing veterans who have kept a t  阅读全文>>