I do not know about you but I am tired of the constant political bickering in F1. When the FIA/FOTA agreement was announced, I was innocent enough to believe that we would be able to talk of motor racing instead of the weasel words and underhand dealings of power brokers in back rooms. But no, Max Mosley has contrived to start everything up again, commencing with a letter to Luca di Montezemolo protesting at his use of words in press releases and threatening to stand for re-election if he did not receive an apology. And, not having received a reply from FOTA, he has sent the WMSC a missive that reads like the self-justifying lobbying he indulged in after the spanking scandal of last year.
So, after months of argument over the future of F1 and finally a deal that appeared to satisfy everyone, Mosley deems it worth risking the destruction of the sport again because he feels insulted over the tone of Luca's announcements to the press. I hardly need to point out that this is the man who finds nothing wrong in calling the FOTA leaders loonies or referring to Sir Jackie Stewart as a certified halfwit. It seems that Mosley can dish out the insults but it is a different matter entirely when his own dignity is on the line.
Plenty of readers warned me that we had not seen the last of Mosley yet - but I think even they were surprised by how quickly he proved them correct. In my innocence, I had hoped that the war was over and we could now talk of other and more savory things; fool that I am.
It is particularly galling for me not to have seen this coming, since I have written twice before on the subject of Max and Bernie's habitual resort to argument by insult (Insult as Argument in F1 and Bernie's School for Insults). The sooner we see the back of this pair, the better for all concerned with F1, I am forced to conclude.
I had thought today to dissect Mosley's letter to Luca and point out its exaggerations and logical inconsistencies but am just too sick of the childish posturing that passes for politics under Mosley's regime. Instead, I am reminded of something written by William Hughes Mearns for his play, Antigonish in 1899:
As I was going up the stair
I saw a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away
Somehow that seems to fit so aptly with Mosley's constant changes and illogical outbursts, so much so that I can only echo the sentiment of that last line.
And that is all I am saying. I have had enough of F1 politics to last me for many years and have no doubt that you feel the same.