Flavio Briatore has replied to Max Mosley’s recent assault with a statement (yawn) saying that: “It is difficult to ascertain whether Mr Mosley is just losing his temper while waiting the decision to be issued by the French courts or if, after having lost his position as a key person in motor racing, he is just eager to regain media coverage by making provocative attacks against myself, amongst others. Whatever is the answer, it is quite intriguing to hear that Mr Mosley would now pretend that the FIA rendered a fair decision against me at the end of a process of fair justice. This is certainly not the position that the current leadership of the FIA expressed before the French Civil Courts, where everyone could hear Counsel for FIA stating that the World Council took only a decision of an ‘administrative nature’, did not issue any ruling against myself and was thus actually not bound to comply with any standards of civilized justice.”
Mr Briatore might himself be accused of “having lost his position as a key person in motor racing” and being “just eager to regain media coverage by making provocative attacks”.
Whatever…
Briatore also claims that Mosley told him “over the phone” on September 19 2009, that his presence at the hearing of the World Council on September 21 was “neither necessary nor desirable”. I don’t suppose that Briatore recorded the conversation… I am told that FB was always extremely careful to make sure that none of his phone conversations were ever bugged. And in any case, if he did record it and did not tell Max then there would be another legal can of worms.
So we must take his word for it.
Whatever…
Joe, long time no comment.
I just wanted to ask why, on this specific debate, are you firmly in Mosley and the FIA’s corner? I mean no disrespect, but surely the FIA have demonstrated a very politicized set of precedents where they have targeted individuals rather than guilt. I draw your attention to Ron Dennis and the ongoing Mclaren saga?
Great blog this year, and I look forward to catching up in Melbourne.
Ryan
P.S If you are wondering where you recognize my name, I was one of the many who commented on the topic of Formula 1 plagiarism.
Diogenes,
I am a Mosley supporter in this respect because Briatore has no right to complain about FIA justice. He was on the receiving end of outrageous leniency too many times over the years and when finally he was banged to rights he got what he deserved. F1 would be better off, in my opinion, if it had happened 15 years ago… As I do not believe that Briatore brought anything truly positive to the sport. He was simply a jackal, feeding off the sport. I am not going to condone Mosley’s behaviour towards McLaren because I do not agree with it. Nor do I think he should have stayed on after being defrocked in Spankygate… but in this case I think that the World Council gave the right punishment.
hey joe
i read your blog everyday, even if there is nothing new to read. i have it kind of bad that way. i suspect that you are of the same cloth. slightly fanatical, slightly the starry-eyed child, slightly the all to often scenic. in short, one that love’s this sport so much, that i am willing to put up with (and do and have done) so much of the un-savory behavior that is a constant in F1. i have obviously formed my own options about both, max mosely and flavio baritory. however, i would like you to explain to me why one (person) is less or more of a scandalous than the other. to me, and you might well inform me to think otherwise, they are both the exact some animal. in different clothes and in different positions and in different roles, but both with massive ego’s and a general “could care less about anything else except my own agenda” attitude. now that is not to say that those agendas did not have their bright spots. mosely: safety, bringing down budgets, and probably many more issues that i don’t know about. FB, winning 2 championships with less money, (and lets not forget, he did recognized micheal right off the bat), and also that he always talked about making the racing more for the people. on a side note: i have always felt that, for example ron dennis was such a racer, that he could care less how many people were in the stands. his competitiveness was so intense that the only person he was concerned with was the car/guy/team in front. probably why mclean in now so successful. anyway back to the point. what are you thoughts on, and why should i think any less of FB as opposed to MM. how about this one, max seemed to me a person that ran rough shot over F1, at times, in what seemed to be a display of my balls are bigger that yours and let me show you why. and little by little has changed the sport to his liking for good or bad, and in my opinion for the bad, ok he is out. FB was responsible for one of the most egregious act in recent history, but because of a demented desire to keep a manufacturer in the game and keep the show great. ok he is out -fore ever- good both in my opinion are the reason are child like love for the sport is sometimes made to be a adult feeling of hurt and betrayal. jp.
The phone-tapping issue would depend on where Flavio was when the conversation was recorded. If he was in the UK at the time it was definitely illegal, but he could have been anywhere, including in international waters, when it happened, which makes things a tad complicated.
However, even if Max did say that “Flavio’s presence was neither necessary nor desirable” and Flavio has legally-permissible proof, all that does is add to an impression of improper conduct; it does not prove it. Flavio would be well-advised to have better evidence than that (and better still, wait until the actual court case to state it to avoid a “trial by media”) if he wishes to sink the HMS Self-Righteous.
IANAL and it may depend on local laws… but generally I believe you are free to record any phone conversations you have without having to tell the other party. On the other hand, if you don’t tell that in advance, you shouldn’t be able to use it in court nor publish it without their consent. The court may decide otherwise though if the conversation is not considered private and/or if the stakes are high (criminal versus civil right cases). Again, it may deeply depend on local jurisdiction and a lot of “details” …
“He was on the receiving end of outrageous leniency too many times over the years….”
I agree completely. But I remain extremely troubled by the fact that this favouritism was a) shown at all, and b) withdrawn as soon as Briatore became politically inconvenient to Mosley. Do you not think that represents a far greater threat to the integrity of the sport than anything a single competitor – however corrupt – could pose?
Nor do I think he should have carried on reading a book on the beach in Monaco instead of agreeing to a temporary chicane at Indy claiming sporting regulations. How about something called feelings and understanding for 125 thousand fans who traveled from all over the World and were cheated out of their money? On the other hand I do agree with him on Flavio. F1 is better off without them. Not a minute too soon.
So how come some people like Alonso, De La Rosa, or Dennis are still in F1, as they were in fact never punished? And why were McLaren and Renault not thrown out of the circus – even temporarily?
Ha! Mad Max and Flaming “Flab”-io. What a sideshow. With those 2 colorful characters out of the spotlight, guess we’ll just have to watch the racing. 8-(
And my, my, my, that’ll be tough; instead of a 2 or 3 way so-so battle for the WDC, we’ll have a 4 way battle royale-no holds barred cage fight: Fred, Seb, Hamo and Schumi. Everyone else will be supporting actors.