Formula One car makers put pressure on Mosley

Leading Formula One car manufacturers put pressure on Max Mosley to resign as president of the sport's governing body yesterday after a sex scandal involving the Briton.

Mosley, who has said he will stay at the helm of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), showed no sign of changing his mind, however.

Mercedes, BMW, Honda and Toyota all issued statements critical of Mosley's position after Britain's News of the World Sunday tabloid detailed how he had paid for sex with prostitutes in what was depicted as a Nazi-style orgy.

"Toyota does not approve of any behaviour which could be seen to damage Formula One's image, in particular any behaviour which could be understood to be racist or anti-Semitic," the Japanese car maker said.

"Senior figures within any sport or business, including motorsport, must adhere to high standards of behaviour.

"When all the facts are known, it will be for the FIA to decide whether Mr Mosley has met the moral obligations which come with the position of FIA president."

Mosley, who has blamed a 'covert' operation against him and is taking legal action against the newspaper, apologised to all national FIA clubs and bodies in a letter on Tuesday but said he would not stand down. He also denied any "Nazi connotation to the matter".

German manufacturers BMW and Mercedes, who partner McLaren, issued a joint statement before Sunday's Bahrain GP making clear that the scandal was not simply a personal matter.

"The content of the publications is disgraceful," they declared. "As a company, we strongly distance ourselves from it.

"This incident concerns Max Mosley both personally and as president of the FIA," they added.

"Its consequences therefore extend far beyond the motor sport industry. We await a response from the relevant FIA bodies."

Mosley, in a statement to Reuters, issued a sharp reply. "Given the history of BMW and Mercedes Benz, particularly before and during the Second World War, I fully understand why they would wish to strongly distance themselves from what they rightly describe as the disgraceful content of these publications," he said.

"Unfortunately, they did not contact me before putting out their statement to ask whether the content was in fact true.

"No doubt the FIA will respond to them in due course as I am about to respond to the newspaper in question."

Honda said senior figures in sport and business had to maintain the highest standards of conduct.

"The Honda Racing F1 Team is extremely disappointed by recent events surrounding Mr Mosley and we are concerned that the reputation of Formula One and all its participants is being damaged," their statement said.

There was no immediate comment from champions Ferrari and Renault.

The German and Japanese car companies were previously united in the Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association which clashed with Mosley repeatedly while threatening to set up a rival series before a deal was reached.

The 67-year-old Mosley, whose late father Oswald was the founder of the pre-war British Union of Fascists, had planned to be present at Sunday's race at Sakhir but is now not attending.

Extraordinary FIA meeting

Later yesterday, Mosley called for an extraordinary general assembly of motor sport's world governing body.

The FIA said in a statement issued at the Bahrain GP that Mosley had asked the president of the FIA Senate, Monaco's Michel Boeri, to call the meeting in Paris and at the earliest practicable date.

That is unlikely to be in the next week or two, with 222 national motoring organisations from 130 countries on five continents affiliated to the FIA.

"The full membership of the FIA will be invited to attend the meeting at which the widespread publicity following an apparently illegal invasion of the FIA president's privacy will be discussed," the statement said.