Bernie Ecclestone does not enjoy being crossed. That is clear from his impassioned outburst over yesterday's scoring system debacle, as reported by F1 Fanatic. His arrogant and misleading statement is duly receiving the kicking it deserves in Keith's comment system and there would be little point in unpacking its vitriolic nonsense here.
I'd rather look at a Toyota...
Instead, I would suggest a read of Max Mosley's comments to The Daily Telegraph today. His reaction has obviously been added to an interview already planned for the newspaper and we have three separate articles to consider as a result. Since the scoring system is the most current talking point, we could go directly to Max's words of wisdom on that subject. It is, after all, a model of his usual use of irrelevancies to obscure the truth.
"Bernie told me that he talked to all the teams and everybody was happy," says Max, apparently unaware that his buddy is a notorious liar and has already been exposed as such on this very issue. When Ecclestone first made his suggestion of medals instead of points, he claimed that all the team owners were in agreement with him; the subsequent meeting of FOTA to discuss that and other issues revealed that none of the teams had been consulted and, indeed, they issued a counter suggestion for an adjustment to the points system, the same suggestion that the WMSC summarily rejected in favor of its own winner-takes-all idea.
Max goes on to claim that "I was led to believe they all agreed. The World Council was under the impression that they had all agreed." And we are supposed to believe that this impression was formed while all the time FOTA's real opinion was lying on the table, rejected and disregarded. Come on, Max, I know you think we are stupid but is anyone really that stupid?
In fact, it was Max who was being stupid if he truly believed that Bernie's assertion that the teams agreed was sufficient to meet the requirement of unanimous agreement of the teams. After hearing Max's intelligence lauded time and again, I am forced to the conclusion that none of the WMSC delegates noticed that what they were doing was against their own rules. In short, they made a mistake but Max is not going to admit it.
Turning to the suspect diffuser issue, we find that Max has retreated from his earlier opinion that the Williams, Toyota and Brawn GP diffusers are legal. Both he and Charlie Whiting have indicated that their view was that the diffusers are within the letter of the law but now Max has this to say:
"It's a very clever device and you can make a very good case for saying that it's legal and a very good case for saying that it's illegal."
So Max does not have an opinion after all and he prefers to allow yet another complex mess to bring the sport into disrepute rather than get it sorted out now. And, contrary to what a lot of commentators have been saying, it is possible to give a ruling before the season begins and the protests received. Max says that "If there had been more time before the detailed objections to the system were sent in, I would probably have sent it to the FIA Court of Appeal before Australia." Strange that there was time to push through a radical change to the points system but not enough to issue a definitive ruling on the diffusers - we have been aware of the problem for weeks.
But no, Max is washing his hands on this one; "...somebody has to make their mind up and fortunately it's not my job," he says. Never mind that part of his job is to ensure that controversial issues are dealt with quickly and in such a way that the sport is not ridiculed for its recurrent legal wrangles. A short statement from Charlie Whiting indicating the legality or otherwise of the diffusers would have been sufficient to deter protests in Melbourne and Max has the power to insist that Charlie make up his mind. His is the view that should hold most weight with the Court of Appeal anyway so it makes sense for him to give it now and let that be an end of the matter.
And so we come to yet another article attempting to justify Max's personal habits. Once more, we are told of "his towering intellect" and then Max goes off on a long dissertation including several dubious assertions stated as fact. Most people are for him, he says, and gives the example of a taxi driver who once said to him, "It’s good what you have done to the News of the World".
It amounts to Max claiming to have his finger on the pulse of public opinion and that most people are sympathetic to his cause. That would indicate that he needs to read a few more F1 blogs, since the overwhelming impression on the net is that F1 fans are fed up with his antics, both private and official.
Max remains in his position, not because the majority of people wanted him to carry on as FIA President, but because he can only be ousted by a vote of no confidence from the FIA delegates - and it is no secret that he survived their vote through the support of representatives from the smaller motoring organizations who had vested interests in seeing him continue. When Max announces his decision to stand for election once again, they will see how much his promises mean. Some of the delegates must actually have thought he meant it when he said he would retire at the end of this term...
But enough, I am tired of the whole subject. Max does not read me and he dismisses all criticism as stupid anyway; sometimes I feel as though I am bashing my head against the wall. And it's true what they say - it is such a relief when I stop.