There is only one way to move on

Join in the discussion on our Grand Prix reports

We’d spent two months asking ourselves ‘will he win the vote?’ We could only speculate, but for most of that time I suspected the FIA General Assembly would give Max Mosley a vote of confidence in Paris. But in the final two weeks I changed my mind. Surely the weight of public opinion and the embarrassing low-key appearance in Monaco, where anyone who mattered kept well out of his way, would convince the members that Mosley’s reign as president was over? No, of course not.

With the benefit of hindsight, Mosley was always going to win this vote. Yes, the democratic process was observed, but as Jackie Stewart has said, the structure of the FIA and how it makes decisions needs an overhaul. Bulgaria has the same influence as the USA – how very fair, the little countries on the same footing as a racing superpower. But in motor racing terms, that’s nonsense.

We’ll be studying and commenting on Mosley’s position in much more detail in the next issue of Motor Sport (on sale June 27). But when some factions have stated that it’s time to move on and put this whole sorry business behind us – Britain’s Motor Sports Association issued an anodyne release that said as much – we feel compelled to state now that such an easy option is impossible. The vote hasn’t solved anything. The companies, governments and high-profile figures who refused to deal with Mosley before the meeting in Paris still won’t be seen with him now. He cannot fulfil the complete range of his responsibilities as president, and remains a liability to a global organisation that is listing dangerously.

Max Mosley has the opportunity to step down on his own terms following the vote of confidence from his General Assembly. We urge him to make that decision now, for the sake of his organisation and the sport. It will only be then that we can really move on.