Max Mosley's opinion...doesn't look good

[Ralf's Girl]

For the people who want to see the FIA take some action, that is.

Apologies if this has already been posted, I haven't had time to read through many threads.

From DailyF1.com:

The FIA President Max Mosley has thrown out suggestions Formula One was damaged by Ferrari’s tactics in Austria even if he thought it had marked the image of Ferrari temporarily.

‘I don’t think it damaged the image of Formula One but it may have damaged the image of Ferrari in the short term,’ he said. ‘But soon it will be “Forza Ferrari” again.’

Ferrari was booed and jeered by the Austrian crowd on home straight, many of them expressing their disapproval with the “thumbs down”. A myriad of fans worldwide also made clear their objection to the display with a flood of phone calls and e-mails to websites, magazines and radio shows.

But Mosley said such a passionate expression from enthusiasts was a big positive for the sport in general.

‘It was actually a tremendous endorsement of Formula One,’ he commented. ‘You wouldn’t have got that sort of reaction from a motocross event or whatever.

‘I actually think it’s made the season more interesting. It’s got people talking and I think that the Monaco audience will be higher.’

So if it's a "tremendous endorsement of Formula One" does that mean that there won't be a punishment at the FIA hearing next month?

[ljakse]

If there is any punishment to be, than it will be only for the trophy awarding ceremony that wasn't respected by TGF&Rubinho.

[Liz]

I believe that since Bernie has weighed in with his "We Are Not Amused" riff, Max may be back pedalling a bit. Especially if he's seeing what is going on in Monaco this weekend (and not getting a cut of the profits for the Formula Farce shirts!)

Max will no doubt have a finger to the wind this weekend and in the next week or two to see if we are forgetting about it and going back to business as usual. Clearly he believes we will.

[senna12]

Agreed Liz. I am sure that Max thinks we all have short memories, and perhaps that is the case for the casual fan, but seeing how this is just another layer on the mountain, pretty soon the hill will be so high, you won't be able to miss it. Max better be careful. At least Bernie realizes that all is not well, which is to be expected. No one, except Max, apparently, is that stupid.

[Liz]

I am astonished that Max thinks this will be "good" for F1. I wonder if he believes that the current pedophilia scandal in the Roman Catholic church is good for Christianity?

[Bibendum]

A nice parallel, Liz. It does sound as though Max thinks any publicity is good publicity, any passion is positive passion. I suspect he is, as you say, waiting to see which way the wind is blowing, and being diplomatically circumspect in the mean time. Didn't much cotton to Bernie's "do it more subtly next time" argument, though, so I suspect Max has understood that Ferrari are to be admonished over a glass of sherry or a G&T, and sent on their way with as much as possible the appearance of being chastened. Even Todt is saying he might just have made a teensy mistake in failing to predict his fans' reaction, so the spin group in Maranello must have had a slight re-think.

[Kex]

Max Mosley says some unbelievably stupid things sometimes.

[JR27]

"Max Mosley says some unbelievably stupid things sometimes"

Then he would fit in perfectly here.

Murph

[J.McClane]

I can see the future throuh my sigs..........................

[Liz]

Everybody says stupid things now and then. Most people don't make a habit of it the way Max appears to.

I got the Gazzetta for this week tonight and they are referring to Ferrari as "Scuderia Mafia." I don't think that exactly sounds as if it's going away real soon, at least among the Italians.

[Liz]

P.S. Welcome back, Murph!

[freud]

Originally posted by Liz
Everybody says stupid things now and then. Most people don't make a habit of it the way Max appears to.

I got the Gazzetta for this week tonight and they are referring to Ferrari as "Scuderia Mafia." I don't think that exactly sounds as if it's going away real soon, at least among the Italians.

I think Ferrari is taking Tifosi 'for granted' and doesnt realize the damage Austrian GP fiasco caused to its image. Imho (being a Ferrari fan myself) Ferrari needs to take a serious look at itself in the mirror. Dont lose the passion even if it costs the wins.... the passion which is foundation of Ferrari.

[Valve Bounce]

My thoughts are that Max has let the side down with inadequate rules and lack of spine in his and Charlie Whiting's dealing with past cases.
The best example I can give is when Jacques was banned for one race back in his championship year for the relatively minor infringement of passing under warning flags during either practice or quals. But two races later when MSch rammed into Jacques at high speed, attempting to launch the Williams into the air, Max and Charlie effective did nothing - not even a suspended race ban. AND this was after the culprit eventually admitted to the wrong.
These things have a habit of coming back to haunt someone who tries to take the easy way out and not punish the class bully. It doesn't go away and sooner or later this inaction will cause more problems. It's like this TRAX problem where the FIA simply threw their hands up and said OK we can't detect it, so we will legalise it. OK, maybe not right now, but after Spain because a certain team can sidestep this rule and they won't support the rule change till after Spain.
In this particular case, all the FIA had to do was to fully sanction team orders publicly, spell it out; or ban it.
I think many here get the picture that I think F1 is run by a spineless bunch of money hungry 's

Valve[img]http://www.**************************/smilies/bouncy.gif[/img]

[freud]

Just to add to your post.. What happened at Sepang this year when JPM got a drive through penalty for a clash with Michael which 'imho' was 75% fault of Michael (though I know all wont agree with me). And just a race later Michael brutally blocked JPM at 350 kph at Interlagos which took off JPM's front wing in the process and 'nothing' happens.

[f1manoz]

Max is proving to be a major fool if he thinks all these scandals and cheating is good for F1, and for sport in general.

Max has never showed any backbone in any decision making, he too often makes bad or wrong decisions and is obviously biased.

[koby]

the bit I am confused about is that Ferrari has never really been a totally fair or honourable crowd over the years - but people are making out that Ferrari's heritage is damaged by this incident. Enzo Ferrari used to manage to get races cancelled when he thought he might lose to - ...Ford cars.

[Liz]

Well, Koby, that's true as far as it goes. But it's Luca's assertion that Ferrari's long history of pride, passion and whatever the rest of the hogwash was he said, would make people forgive them for blatant race-fixing, that has caused the damage ... that and Jean Todt's insulting comments about Rubens and about the tifosi . It's kind of like all the shrieking at the USA whenever they do something less than admirable. People expect better of them.

[Ralf's Girl]

Max Mosley has now told BBC news:

"We'll have to take action or have a very good reason not to"

No doubt they'll be able to find one. (a bit like the "faulty measuring" after Malaysia 99 then? )

[Mania]

Originally posted by koby
the bit I am confused about is that Ferrari has never really been a totally fair or honourable crowd over the years

I dont think any team on the grid has had a spotless record over the years. Ferrari are certainly no angels but nor are the other 10 teams on the grid. Point is though - the tifosi is what Ferrari is all about...and if your own fans are booing you or taking offence at your actions on and off the track - then you've got a major problem.

'Ol EF was a hard character but one thing is for sure - he was a real racer. I dont think Todt and Brawn can fit into that category.

[Nicholas]

Originally posted by Mania
I dont think any team on the grid has had a spotless record over the years.

Some people may not think they are what they used to be, but I read somewhere that in the early 90s every team bar Minardi was effectively cheating.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by Kex
Max Mosley says some unbelievably stupid things sometimes.

He was interviewed in the ITV news tonight. I'll paraphrase "I think we [FIA] will take some action [in June] or we'll [the FIA] need a good reason not to take action".

Ralf's Girl can correct this.

[paulzinho]

He didn't really want to comment specifically on ITVs coverage of qualifying, I hope something is done, thats the only way in which it will do F1 good.

There is no doubt that F1 has received increased media coverage in recent weeks but IMO the only way F1 can benefit from this is if the FIA take some form of action to appease the majority of the supporters.

BTW any more news on the reaction in Italy?

[Wrex]

You guys are setting yourselves up for massive disappointment. THERE IS NO WAY THEY CAN PUNISH FERRARI FOR TEAM ORDERS WITHOUT CHANGING THE RESULT OF 50 OTHER RACES IN HISTORY.

They did'nt break a rule. It's sucks, bigtime, I agree. But they did'nt break a rule. I think deep down most of you know it, and therefore understand the FIA can't do anything. Your just setting yourselves up (and winding up others in the process) so you can be outraged at the injustice in June.

They may get a fine for the podiam incident, but thats it. If they get punished for the team orders, I'm sorry but I think that would be wrong. Despite the fact I thought it sucked, you can't change the rules afterwards just because the public did'nt like the result. Do you really want the FIA to have that power, and will you accept it when they use that power in a future decision that benefits Ferrari. It would be predudicial to Ferrari over all the others that have done it.

Fortunatly, with the media and public backlash, they are being punished more effectively that having a race ban or points removed (lets face it, that would change nothing in the end). This will stick with them for a long time, and give all the anti-TGF/Ferrari members something to bla bla bla about when your sick of regurgitating Jerez 97 and Adelaide 94 (which I thought sucked too before you ask).

[Gt_R]

Good o'Wrex

[Peter Mallett]

Hmm,

I suspect Max was referring to the podium incident and not the team orders. However he does seem to have an idea that there will be some sort of punishment.