Zoom A war of words between Mosley and Montezemolo

Max Mosley insists he is not only personally aggrieved, but that he is also ‘under pressure’ to retain his role at the top of F1's governing body the FIA.

After committing only last Wednesday to stepping down however, it is an unhappy prospect for the Formula One Teams' Association, but the 69-year-old Briton has no sympathy following their reaction to the Paris peace deal.

"It's no good the teams getting a PR agency to claim I am dead and buried when I am standing here as large as life," he said in an interview with the Daily Mail.

Mosley said the teams' reaction is a threat to the authority of the federation and claims he is therefore "under pressure now from all over the world to stand for re-election."

He said the media briefings given by FOTA after the deal contained ‘complete lies’.

"That was obviously very annoying and not just for me. It has given the impression to the member clubs of the FIA that the car industry had dictated who the President could be and what the President should do. That caused uproar," Mosley explained.

He denies the events after Wednesday have simply given him an excuse to prolong his controversial FIA reign.

"I do genuinely want to stop," Mosley insisted. "But if there is going to be a big conflict with the car industry... I will do whatever I have to do. It's not in my nature to walk away from a fight," he insisted.

Interestingly, Mosley also revealed that the peace deal was only going to be set in stone if FOTA "could strike an agreement with the Williams and Force India teams ... and the three new teams."

Source: GMM
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