Monday, May 24, 2021
Formula 1 father had cancer
Max Mosley is dead
Max Mosley died at the age of 81. The Briton was the head of the automotive world association for many years and one of the fathers of modern Formula 1. As FIA President he raised the safety standards in Formula 1 to a new level, and his private life caused controversy.
Former FIA President Max Mosley has died at the age of 81. This was confirmed by his longtime friend and companion Bernie Ecclestone of the BBC. “It’s like losing a family member, like losing a brother,” said longtime Formula 1 promoter Ecclestone. Mosley had cancer.
For 40 years, the two Brits shaped the motorsport premier class. Mosley, son of the fascist politician Sir Oswald Mosley, a doctorate in physics and law, was a racing driver and co-founder of the Formula 1 team March, from 1993 to 2009 he was head of the FIA, the international automobile association.
One of his achievements was raising the safety standards in Formula 1 after the black weekend in Imola in 1994, on which Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger had a fatal accident. Mosley then dictated the teams how to build their cars and had one circuit after another defused. “He’s done a lot of good things. Not just in motorsport, but also in the automotive industry. Because he made cars safer,” said Ecclestone.
Scandals and visions
Mosley, who spoke perfect German because of his training in German boarding schools, was also a controversial figure. In 2008 the British tabloid News of the World published a sadomasochistic video showing Mosley with five prostitutes. Mosley complained. The video was portrayed as a “sick Nazi orgy” by the newspaper, but the judge in charge found no reference to Nazi issues in his judgment. Mosley later also took action against the search engine giant Google and obtained the deletion of photos.
Initially, the affair did not damage his career in sports politics. Mosley faced a vote of no confidence following the Yellow Press revelations and was confirmed by FIA members. After his term of office ended in 2009, he decided not to run again. For all the criticism, Mosley was also a visionary. Even during his time as FIA boss, he wanted to ensure the “survival of Formula 1” by introducing a cost cap. Again and again he failed because of the resistance of the teams who threatened him with the establishment of a competitive series.
At the end of 2019, ten years after Mosley’s departure from the top of the FIA, a so-called budget cap was actually decided: Since the current season, no Formula 1 team has been allowed to spend more than $ 145 million per year – with the exception of driver salaries and marketing expenses, among other things .
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