“I'm sure that they [sponsors] will be reviewing their investment in the light of the alleged activity,” she admitted. “The crunch will come at the June 3 meeting. They [sponsors] won't pull funding in the long-term.
“I think it has the potential to be a nine-day wonder if the
FIA deal with it efficiently in June. Then it can be written off as a learning experience.”
Whilst Stephen Cheliotis, chief executive of the Centre for Brand Analysis and UK Superbrands and CoolBrands Councils' chairman, underlined that he did “not believe for a minute that all publicity is good publicity”, he did state his conviction that the sport's future success and popularity hinged far more on the action on the track rather than that taking place off it.
“The question here is whether
Max Mosley and the Formula 1 brand are intrinsically linked,” he stressed. “Max Mosley isn't
Formula 1.
“What Max Mosley does as head of the FIA is totally, utterly different from the sport – the public can differentiate.”
Four of grand prix racing's leading engine manufacturers and teams – Mercedes,
BMW,
Honda and
Toyota – have already sought to express their distaste for the allegations and distance themselves from the FIA President. Whilst acknowledging the danger that some brands and companies may wish not to be associated with a man at the centre of such lurid claims, Cheliotis added that because Formula 1 is such a diverse and complicated sport made up of so many different sections – drivers, constructors, sponsors and motorsport bodies amongst them – it is hard for any one event to affect its image too greatly.
Stating that there is “a little too much panic” surrounding the matter, Cheliotis pointed to the example of Rebecca Loos, who caused a media sensation when her affair with England footballer David Beckham was brought out into the open.
“You're not going to stop supporting Manchester United and Real Madrid because of it,” he summarised.
