No question in my mind that Mosley must resign, former Minardi owner urges.
With the News of the World vowing to send to the FIA a DVD copy of the 'sex tape' the paper claims implicates Max Mosley in a 'sick Nazi orgy with 5 hookers', former Formula 1 team boss Paul Stoddart has insisted: 'This a**hole has got to go'.
The outspoken Australian - who ran the Minardi team from 2001 to 2005 - has frequently come to verbal blows with Mosley in the past, and blames the beleagured FIA President for keeping him away from the sport ever since. Whilst advising Spain's King Juan Carlos to follow the Bahraini Royal Family's lead in shunning the 67-year-old ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of the month, Stoddart expressed his firm conviction that Mosley had brought F1 into disrepute with the revelations and as such must be removed from his post in no uncertain terms.
"This a**hole has got to go for the sake of the sport," he told the Weekend Australian newspaper. "His position as head of Formula 1 - which boasts 181 member bodies - has become totally untenable following the publication of the photographs in the British media.
"Is it any wonder he wasn't welcomed in Bahrain? Nor do I think Spain's King Juan Carlos should extend him the welcome mat at the next race in Barcelona in three weeks' time.
"There is absolutely no question in my mind that Mosley must go. Only then will I come back to the sport as a team owner."
Mosley has called an Extraordinary General Assembly of the Senate, which will be held in the FIA's home of Paris at the earliest available date, though possibly not until July. There, ten members of the sport's governing body - who are believed to be on the list to receive the incriminating DVD - will have the opportunity to discuss the future of the man who has held the role as FIA President since 1993.
F1's major manufacturers having expressed their outrage and distaste for the allegations - the Nazi element of which Mosley vigorously denies - and senior figures within the sport fear for the financial implications of the scandal [see separate story - click here]. Even Bernie Ecclestone - Mosley's close friend and ally - has in recent days refused to speak out in support of his long-time business associate.
Mosley has, however, received the backing of the Brazilian motorsport federation - the Confederacao Brasileira De Automobilismo (CBA) - whose president Paulo Eneas Scaglione defended his right to privacy in his private life, and seconded the Briton's conviction that he should continue in his role. Other motoring organisations have conversely revealed their anger and disappointment over the matter [see separate story - click here].
