FIA President Max Mosley has responded to comments by Sir Jackie Stewart calling on Mosley to resign.
Mosley and Stewart have recently had a war of words, with the FIA president recently deeming Stewart a certified halfwit . Stewart believes Mosley should step down over the way that the FIA have handled recent matters, most recently the decision to have a scrutineer oversee the McLaren team at the final race of the season to ensure both drivers are treated equally.
Mosley has dismissed Stewart s resignation call and stands by all the comments he has made. “Jackie Stewart s latest comments are as misconceived as those he made prior to the McLaren World Council hearing in September,†Mosley said in an interview with autosport. “During a highly charged and controversial season it is of course understandable that many in the United Kingdom feel great sympathy for the plight of McLaren and Lewis Hamilton. In the same way it is understandable for many on the continent to feel great sympathy for the plight of double world champion Fernando Alonso.
“However, it is not the role of the FIA to court popularity by supporting one party or the other. It is the role of the FIA to ensure that the rules of the sport are respected and that fairness is applied consistently for all competitors. If drivers from another team complain about what they consider to be the unsafe driving of a race leader in atrocious weather conditions which then results in an accident, does anyone, even Jackie Stewart, honestly believe the sporting authorities should not examine the new evidence presented to them?
“When the Spanish Motor Sport Authority seeks safeguards to ensure fair play should the international governing body ignore their request? Jackie Stewart seems to have forgotten that McLaren received information on a daily basis for over three months plus a dossier of 780 pages from a spy in its main rival. It was for this they incurred a record sanction and expulsion from the Constructors’ Championship. They did not appeal as they undoubtedly would have done had Jackie’s ill-considered views had any merit.
“The bandying of partisan and ill informed comments in the media may well result in increased book sales for his new autobiography but they can do little more than confirm my view that Jackie is in no position to provide useful observations upon issues of motor sport governance.”
