Well, we all knew Max was a little different. And now that we know the boundaries of Max’s judgement, I find myself on the edge of my seat to see how he deals with this latest crisis. Step 1: call an emergency meeting of the FIA council. It would seem that Max is prepared to fight for this on principle. I thought he was prepared to step down next year anyway, why this unnecessary inconvenience to the entire motorsports world? Why drag all these people from their home countries to a meeting?
Because Max is once again missing the point. He is informed by the dictatorial notion that that the dictator is above the standard rules, indeed above reproach entirely. Perhaps his stance is informed by his father’s philosophy of government. Or perhaps he is just a moron.
The shot at his father may seem easy and cheap, but I think it is significant. Max’s response is legalistic in nature and seems to be based on two points. One is that the filming and subsequent report was illegal. The other is that the orgy was not racist in nature. Still the fact remains that the head of the FIA was in an orgy.
Max’s defense might make sense if he was an elected MP or government official. But as the head of a huge and very valuable entertainment property, his response is irresponsible at best. The interests of the FIA are certainly not served by this as the letter from the Bahraini crown prince demonstrates.
That is because F1 is based on image. Bernie “The Mad Mod” Ecclestone 
should have taught him this. Bernie at least demanded and continues to demand certain image and brand standards for the tracks and teams (remember when he weeded out the minnows in an effort to upgrade the “professionalism” of the teams?). Max’s image is tarnished whether or not the prostitutes were supposed to be Nazis or not and by proxy the entire sport is tarnished. Whether the News of the World had a legal right is beside the point and will play itself out in court. We are offended by the act, not its legal consequences.
Max should just step down a year early and just save everyone the trouble. “Everyone” in this case are the teams, manufacturers and tracks. Oh yeah and also that forgotten lot: the fans. Instead Max will just drag everyone one down into the mud with him to protect his “rights”, rights that are not absolute, divinely granted or justified by the greater efficiency of fascism. They are based, as are the responsibilities of the president of the FIA, on the needs of the FIA’s constituent stakeholders. And they do not include the right to orgies.
Filed under: F1, FIA | Tagged: F1, Max Mosely
