I suppose I should not have been surprised by today's vote at the FIA EGM, but I was genuinely hopeful that the delegates would see how much damage Mosley's continuing tenure is doing to the organization and to motor sport. How easy it was to forget the delegates' previous record of craven submission to their leader.
Max Mosley
Now that Mosley has survived the vote, our thoughts turn to what happens next. Splits become inevitable and the German motoring organization, ADAC, has already reacted with a statement that it will have nothing to do with the FIA as long as Mosley remains in power. The Automobile Association of America, another huge organization, has also expressed its disappointment with the decision and will announce its intended action in due course. Even at this early stage, talk is of a split away from the FIA.
Bernie's latest statement to The Times newspaper may have been a political measure intended to sway the vote, but there is truth in what he says:
"The people I deal with are commercial people, manufacturers, sponsors and teams. They want peace and they want to get on with the business and the sport. Max doesn't care - he's not commercial - he hasn't got one single dollar invested, so he doesn't give a stuff"
Even if the delegates are not aware of the inevitable results that will follow their vote, Mosley himself is - and he has clung to power in spite of that knowledge. This alone is clear proof that the man should not be president of the FIA and should never have been. His interests are being put above those of the FIA, the motoring organizations and motor sport, including F1. It is an intolerable situation and cannot continue for long without huge and far-reaching results.
It should not be imagined that the split between Mosley and Ecclestone will go away now, either. Bernie has identified himself as an important counter force to Max and will not be forgiven easily. After years of running F1 as a team, the two most powerful men in F1 will begin a struggle that can only be more damaging to the sport.
I suspect that we are watching the end of the FIA as a governing body. Once the major motoring organizations have departed and set up a competing body, the F1 teams are likely to renew their aborted attempt to break away from an organization now revealed as divided and unable to manage its own affairs, let alone those of motor sport. Ferrari may be important to F1 but it is not so important that it can be a series all on its own; if the other teams depart, Ferrari will have no option but to follow.
Mosley may think that he has brought an end to the saga with this vote but this is merely the beginning. Thanks to him, the political struggles will continue and all those with a stake in the sport will find that the peace they desire remains unobtainable. The irony is that, had Max done the right thing by resigning in the first place, we might have been able to retain at least a shred of respect for him; as things are, he is revealed as a man without honor determined only upon his own retention of power.