Lauda joins call for Mosley to go

Niki Lauda has joined former Formula One champions Jackie Stewart and Jody Scheckter in calling for Max Mosley to stand down as FIA president after a sex scandal.

"If Max starts to think about things without emotion, then there can be only one conclusion - he has to resign," British newspapers quoted the Austrian, a champion with McLaren and Ferrari, as saying.

Triple champion Stewart said Mosley's position as head of world motorsport's governing body was untenable while South Africa's 1979 champion Scheckter called for the 67-year-old to resign last week.

"Max has lost the paddock, that is my perception from what others are saying," Stewart said.

"It might take from up to a week to 10 days for this to play out. People are waiting for others to act before they declare their hands."

More details were published in the tabloid News of the World on Sunday but Mosley has remained defiant, arguing that his behaviour has been "harmless and completely legal", however unacceptable it might be to some people. He has said he has the backing of some FIA members.

The son of Oswald Mosley, founder of the pre-war British Union of Fascists, has firmly denied any Nazi connotation to the affair.

Four of Formula One's car manufacturers put pressure on Mosley to go last week but team bosses have been reluctant to speak out, either for or against him.

Force India technical head Mike Gascoyne was an exception.

"I think any person in that position has to consider the impact of their actions," he told Reuters at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

"If he wishes to stay, it will devalue his office down to the level at which it is perceived, which is obviously not good.

"It is painting the whole of motorsport in a very bad light and someone in that position, to my mind, has to be honourable and consider their position."