Having held his silence for weeks over the sex scandal engulfing
Max Mosley,
Bernie Ecclestone has responded to his former key ally's inflammatory letter suggesting the
Formula 1 supremo is attempting to seize control of the sport's regulations from the
FIA by insisting: ‘I don't want to have a war with Max.'
In the letter – sent out to FIA club presidents at the end of last week and made public over the weekend [see separate story –
click here] – the embattled FIA President warned delegates that voting him out of office during the Extraordinary General Assembly of the FIA Senate in Paris on 3 June would leave the governing body's responsibility for sporting regulations in the top flight open to a potential takeover bid by Ecclestone's
Formula One Management Group and commercial rights-holders CVC Capital Partners.
The 68-year-old – disgraced by the
News of the World's front page exposé about his private life at the end of March – revealed that CVC, represented by Ecclestone, is trying to re-negotiate its 100 year agreement so that it has ‘control over the Formula One regulations and the right to sell the business to anyone – in effect to take over Formula One completely'. He added that in his view ‘it would be irresponsible, even a breach of duty, to walk away from a number of negotiations currently under way'.
Understandably angered by the contents of the letter [which can be read in full by
clicking here], Ecclestone has now questioned whether Mosley's words were tantamount to a ‘declaration of war', as the relationship between the two erstwhile long-time friends and business associates threatens to degenerate to a new low.
