With
Max Mosley finally set to return to the
Formula 1 paddock for the first time since the sex scandal enveloping him broke almost seven weeks ago, the sport's teams are said to be implementing contingency plans should they or any of their sponsors bump into the disgraced
FIA President over the weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix at the end of the month.
According to British newspaper
The Times, the teams are nervous about coming into contact with the 68-year-old, exposed by the
News of the World at the end of March for having taken part in what the Sunday tabloid called a ‘sick Nazi orgy with 5 hookers'.
In the intervening period, a whole host of high-profile names have made calls for Mosley's resignation, but the man himself is continuing to stand firm – in spite of the damage his intransigence is seemingly doing to the sport's image. He is preparing to take the
News of the World on in Court – seeking ‘unlimited damages' over breach of privacy – and is set to face an all-important vote of confidence on his future in the FIA Senate in Paris on 3 June.
Team members and senior corporate executives representing sponsors are now, according to
The Times, trying to work out how to avoid meeting or being photographed with Mosley in the Principality next weekend – the most glamorous race on the
F1 calendar and the undisputed jewel in its crown, frequently used for entertaining clients.
The Crown Prince of Bahrain personally instructed Mosley not to attend the grand prix held in the desert kingdom last month, whilst on advice he similarly was not present at the Spanish Grand Prix for fear of upsetting King Juan Carlos. The Turkish Prime Minister was similarly keen not to bump into him should he have made an unannounced appearance in Istanbul last weekend, and there are suggestions the Monaco Royal Family are also less than enamoured by the prospect of Mosley showing his face on the F1 stage for the first time since the scandal was made public.
