I was reluctant to write a third Mosley post after having done two in a row but find I have to. This one will be a little different, however, as it suggests that Tuesday's confidence vote may not be all the bad news so many of us think it is. Let us say that this is the Optimism Post after all the doom and gloom of Max's Massive Moment.
Ah, Monaco...
If we sit back and think about the consequences if the vote had gone the other way, we might find that things would have been little better. Max would have held on as long as possible while an alternative president was sought and elected, so little would have changed for the rest of the year. Then, considering the FIA's past record of selecting a leader, the successor might have been just as bad but with several years ahead of him to make things worse.
Add to that the fact that the danger of a breakaway by the motoring clubs would still be present and that the conflict of interest between the FIA and the Commercial Rights Holders (CVC) would continue, we can see that very little would have changed. Mosley's continuing presidency merely hastens the onset of these problems - they would not go away if he left.
Although it is painful to see the FIA and therefore the sport going through these political struggles, it may be that they are for the good of motor racing in the end. Should there be a split between the FIA and the motoring club giants and should the F1 teams form a separate championship of their own, the FIA would be left as an ineffectual minor body on the fringe of things. But a breakaway championship would be free to organise its governmment having learned the lessons of the past and would be free of the various agreements and obligations that force the FIA to behave as it does.
It sounds too much like the Indy Car/Champ Car split for anyone to be comfortable, but lessons could be learned from that, too. Certainly it would require all but one or two of the teams to be a part of the breakaway for it to have any real chance of success. That has been achieved in the past, however, and, apart from a last minute defection by Ferrari, might well have happened then. If the FIA becomes engaged in a bout of continual political in-fighting, a breakaway F1 project would begin to look quite tempting.
Think of the way we have complained over the years at the apparent failure of the FIA to provide a stable and fair platform for the sport. The inexplicable decisions on contentious issues, the dictatorial powers granted its president, the lack of voice from anyone actually devoted to the sport, the sale of assets for apparently personal reasons, all these have contributed to a view of the governing body as a biased and corrupt organization. A new series detached from the FIA would have the chance to correct all these wrongs - to make a new start, in fact.
It is a dangerous thing to suggest. As we have seen in America, such splits and breakaways are inevitably motivated, at least to some extent, by the self interest of the parties concerned. Any such attempt in F1 would have to be very careful to avoid the pitfalls already demonstrated. But the sport faces a dangerous future anyway and a departure from the FIA might prove the only way for it to survive.
One thing is certain: F1 is at present healthy, enjoying a revival of racing after the rescinding of ill-advised rules, and financially sound. To pessimists like myself, however, its future looks grim as long as it remains bound to an organization that becomes ever more contentious and ridiculous. Teams like BMW may beg for there to be peace and for everyone to get back to racing, but that will never happen as long as the FIA retains its present leaders and structure. It is time for those who care about the sport to consider alternatives to its present government.