Former FIA president and Formula 1 team founder Max Mosley, one of the most significant figures in motorsport history, has died aged 81.
Mosley transitioned from driving to team leading as a founder and co-owner of the March Engineering organisation, an enterprise that led him to take on increasing responsibility within FOCA, the coalition of F1 teams at the time.
He was a key figure in the negotiation of the first F1 Concorde Agreement that ended a bitter dispute between the teams and the governing body (then known as FISA, a sub-FIA commission).
Mosley became FISA president in 1991 and two years later took charge of the FIA outright. He ran the governing body until 2009.
During his FIA presidency Mosley was involved in major safety advances in motorsport and in the automotive world, with stricter F1 crash tests and the implantation of the HANS device among them.
In marketing around the Mosley: It’s Complicated documentary being released theatrically this summer, which Mosley cooperated with, his successor as FIA president Jean Todt described him as “a forerunner in making motor racing a laboratory for road safety and the environment”.
Deeply saddened by the passing of Max Mosley.He was a major figure in @F1 & motor sport. As @FIA President for 16 years, he strongly contributed to reinforcing safety on track & on the roads. The entire FIA community pays tribute to him. Our thoughts & prayers are with his family pic.twitter.com/iFcHzBHaWX
— Jean Todt (@JeanTodt) May 24, 2021
The FIA said in a statement: “The work he undertook during his 16-year presidency leaves an indelible mark on the world of motorsport and mobility.
“His passion and commitment for improving safety both on the race track and, crucially, in transferring that work to practical solutions on the road, has had a positive effect on countless lives around the world.”
It was also during his tenure that Bernie Ecclestone, a long-time Mosley friend and associate, agreed a deal with the FIA to take over F1’s commercial rights.
That teed up a lengthy period of dispute and renegotiation of revenue terms with F1’s longest-standing and biggest teams, during which the infamous agreement was reached for Ecclestone’s control of F1’s commercial rights to be extended to 100 years.
Other controversies during his time included the 2005 United States Grand Prix debacle and 2007 McLaren ‘Spygate’ scandal.
The end of his FIA presidency was marred by scandal away from F1, following the revelation of video footage from the News of the World of Mosley participating in an orgy the British newspaper alleged was Nazi-themed and sado-masochistic.
In the unofficial Mosley documentary, Ecclestone reportedly cites his decision not to initially support Mosley during that time as “the one thing that I’m ashamed of” most in his life.
As Mosley was the youngest son of the former leader of the British Union of Fascists Sir Oswald Mosley, the Nazi allegation had a particularly damaging connotation.
Mosley eventually won a High Court legal case against the paper for invasion of privacy but did not continue in his FIA role for very long after the scandal emerged and agreed not to stand for re-election in 2009.
