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Ecclestone urges F1 to get behind Mosley

BernieBernie Ecclestone insists that it is time to put the Max Mosley scandal to bed and welcome the FIA president back to Formula One.

After surviving a vote of confidence and winning his privacy case against the News of the World earlier this year, FIA president Max Mosley has kept a low profile.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone was among those to call for his resignation when the scandal first broke, but this appeared to be out of personal concern for Mosley’s well-being, rather than for political gain.

While Ecclestone’s Formula One Group and the FIA are still wrangling over a new commercial agreement for Formula One, the pair were united in their decision to give the British Grand Prix to Donington, and they are both in agreement that Formula One needs to be more sustainable.

And now Ecclestone has publicly urged the sport to welcome Mosley back to the paddock: “People have come to the conclusion that whatever happened with Max was Max and it has nothing to do with anything else,” he told BBC Five Live’s Sportsweek.

“I don’t think they care any more, people forget all these things. At the time it was a shock, if it had happened to other people it probably wouldn’t have been a shock.

“For a short period I said he should resign because I had so much pressure from people to say he should resign. In a lot of ways, at the time I wished he had done. Now I don’t see why he should. Max works and does the best he can for the sport, 100 per cent.”

Ecclestone will meet Mosley again at the Italian Grand Prix in September and hopes to establish a normal working relationship.

“I’ll see him in Monza,” he said. “I’ll welcome him back. He should come back and carry on like he normally carries on.”

Ecclestone also hinted that it would not be inconceivable that Mosley could be persuaded to stay on as FIA President, despite announcing his intention to stand down when his term runs out next year.

“He said he would stand down before and he hasn’t,” he added. “If we look at it selfishly and look at the sport, it’s difficult to see who would replace him and do the things he does. That is what the difficulty is.”

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