Motorsport: Mosley defiant as quit calls grow

Max Mosley, the boss of Formula One motor racing, is fighting for his professional life over the breakaway of eight teams, including McLaren and Ferrari, to begin a rival series.

The FIA, F1's governing body, is preparing lawsuits of upwards of $1.5 billion. Mosley, the FIA's 69-year-old head, is at the centre of the budget-capping dispute that plunged Formula One into its biggest crisis. It will overshadow this weekend's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Senior motor racing figures have called for Mosley to quit, and a rift with Bernie Ecclestone, the other half of F1's most influential duo, may have widened irretrievably.

It marks the latest episode in a nightmare 15 months for the son of 1930s fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley. Just six weeks ago his 39-year-old son Alexander was found dead in his flat from a drug overdose.

In July last year Max Mosley won a High Court battle with the News of the World. He was awarded £60,000 for breach of privacy after the Sunday tabloid claimed an orgy in which he took part had Nazi overtones. Mosley admitted to a sadomasochistic sex session with five prostitutes but vehemently denied the event had a Nazi theme.

But, as he confessed in court, the publicity surrounding the case was a source of severe shame to him. He described the episode as "totally devastating" for his wife of 48 years, and added he could think of "nothing more undignified or humiliating" for his sons to experience.

Critics say his troubles have been of his own making. Ecclestone, who initially stood by Mosley during his legal battle, later declared he "should go out of responsibility for the institution he represents". Now a series of high-profile figures have called for his departure from the sport altogether. Eddie Jordan, the former team boss, said "heads would have to roll" to save Formula One. On Friday, Sir Jackie Stewart, the three-times world champion, was clear Mosley must quit.

Mosley remained defiant, saying his FIA would sue the F1 Teams Association (Fota), the coalition of teams planning a rival championship in 2010. He has insisted a voluntary £40m budget cap for each team is the only way to avoid a "financial arms race" gripping the sport. Fota agrees costs should be reduced but won't abide by Mosley's conditions. That has prompted Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso, and Brawn GP - for whom current championship leader Jenson Button drives - to take drastic action.

Mosley and Ecclestone are now under huge pressure with many observers speculating that the latter, who has F1's ultimate owners - the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners - breathing down his neck, would ditch Mosley if he could find a way of doing so.

Mosley denied that. Asked if he and Ecclestone were still on the same page he replied: "Absolutely. He knows this is merely an attempt to grab his business. This is all about power. The teams want to get rid of Max and Bernie. That's fine, but you will only get another [president] who probably knows less about Formula One than me, whose first language is probably not English."

Mosley has been in a similar quagmire before, having dragged Formula One back from the brink of collapse four years ago, when leading teams also threatened to walk away. With no obvious mechanism by which the teams can remove him, and a World Motor Sport Council meeting next week at which he may announce he intends to stand for another term, Mosley is unlikely to go quietly.

Meanwhile, Red Bull dominated practice for the British Grand Prix with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber fastest in both sessions. Vettel set a fastest lap of 1m 19.4s in the first session. Vettel was 0.056s slower in the second 90-minute session, when Webber reduced the gap on his 21-year-old German team-mate to 0.197s. Webber's second session ended early when he hit a kerb.

Championship leader Jenson Button had a disappointing day, completing a lap of his home circuit in 1m 20.227s for third in the morning but slumped to 14th later.

Brawn GP chief executive Ross Brawn said he expects a difficult race from the Red Bulls. "They're too quick," he said. "I think we're going to have trouble this weekend."

Button has won six of the season's first seven races to lead the overall standings by 27 points from team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who was fourth in the morning, then dropped two places in the afternoon.

"Even if we sort the car out we are not going to be as quick as the Red Bulls, they are just staggeringly quick around here," Button said. "I don't think we are going to find that pace overnight. If it is warmer I think it will help our car."