Max Mosley last night refused to confirm he will stand down as motor-racing chief in October.
The FIA president was due to hand over the reins by not seeking another term as part of a peace deal to stop rebel teams splitting F1.
Click Here For More Formula 1 Photos
But he called that move into question on Wednesday after being enraged by claims from the Formula One Teams Association that he had handed over power immediately.
And he backed that up yesterday in a letter to FIA’s members’ clubs, saying they needed a strong president which could be seen as a sign that he will seek another term.
Mosley told the clubs: “The question of FIA president is a matter exclusively for you, the members clubs of the FIA, and most definitely not for the vehicle manufacturers who make up FOTA.”
Former Ferrari boss Jean Todt and ex-World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen are two contenders if Mosley does step down later this year.
Todt spearheaded the Italian outfit, which led the breakaway threat from eight teams, to their period of dominance under Michael Schumacher.
The FOTA clubs, which were ready to set up a rival series in a row with Mosley over budget caps, want an independent president. The Sun
Mosley, outraged at comments against him by FOTA on Thursday after they thought they had forced him out, is ready to stand again.
In the letter, he also accuses a major team of pressuring him to use his influence, which he refused, to have a performance-enhancing double diffuser on Jenson Button’s Brawn car banned by the FIA’s Court of Appeal in April.
Click Here For More Formula 1 Photos
He does not name the team but it is understood to have been Ferrari, which will cause great embarrassment as their president, Luca di Montezemolo, heads FOTA.
Existing teams had announced they would break from F1 and set up their own series next season in a row over budget caps and new teams.
Now he is on the warpath after the teams talked about him as having been a dictator and suggesting that FOTA had won everything by force, adding they would now keep the FIA at a distance with a more independent president. UK Express
The “polemics” refers to the belief that Mosley is simply laying the ground for his succession plan, one that involves Todt, a man who would be an unpopular choice with the teams — but not as unpopular as Mosley himself.
Toyota’s John Howett, a leading light in the team association Fota, said on Wednesday: “From the teams’ point of view, we would like to see someone who actually is independent , perhaps independent from any of us currently or historically.” This was taken as a clear hint that Todt, as an ex-Ferrari man, would not find favour among them.
One team insider said: “Mosley wants someone to continue his work. Someone that can be manipulated by him — and we all know who that is.”
Todt is working with the FIA as president of eSafetyAware, a non-profit organisation promoting the use of safety technologies in cars that is supported by the FIA.
Di Montezemolo recruited Todt to Ferrari in 1993, but the Frenchman resigned as CEO in March, and their parting is said to have been less than cordial.
Todt and Mosley have had a close working relationship ever since Todt was made Ferrari team principal. For instance, last year after revelations about Mosley’s private life in the News of the World, there was a campaign among the teams to take action at the Canadian Grand Prix in an attempt to force him to resign. The plan foundered on one team refusing to go along with it — Ferrari, represented by Todt. Times Online
| 
|