23/12/2008
NEWS STORY
FIA President Max Mosley has confirmed that he will make his decision as to whether he will run for re-election in June next year.
At the height of this year's sex scandal he said that he intended stepping down next October when his current term comes to an end. However, despite insisting in recent months that this remained his intention he has claimed that he is under pressure from members of the FIA's membership to continue.
Asked, in an interview with Formula1.com if he still planned not to stand for re-election, Mosley said: "Yes, but I will take a final decision in June".
He was then asked who he saw as a likely replacement, the most obvious choice perhaps being recently-appointed Deputy President, Nick Craw. "The difficulty is finding somebody who has the necessary experience, but also the time and inclination to do the job," said Mosley. "You mention Nick Craw. He is the president of ACCUS, which controls all the different forms of racing in the United States. With all this to contend with, he is probably not exactly looking for work."
Asked to name his achievements and also his regrets, in respect of his time in office, Mosley replied: "I think the biggest achievements will have been the improvements in safety both on public roads and on the circuits. However, one must remember that a great many other people have been involved. I initiated these things, but others have made them work. The greatest disappointment has been the tendency of some fans to criticise without understanding what we are trying to do.
Finally, asked to name the attributes needed for the role and what advice he would give to his (eventual) successor, Mosley said: "A great deal of patience and ideally an ability to understand quickly a great variety of technical and legal issues.
"I would advise a potential successor to think very carefully before standing for election."
Last week, Bernie Ecclestone confided to a Pitpass source that he does not believe Mosley will stand down and will indeed stand for another term.
Should the situation between the teams and Ecclestone worsen, the sport might well need Mosley's experience to keep things under control.