Max Mosley | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Mosley in 1969 | |
| President of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile | |
| In office 23 October 1993 – 23 October 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Jean-Marie Balestre |
| Succeeded by | Jean Todt |
| President of the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile | |
| In office 1991–1993 | |
| Preceded by | Jean-Marie Balestre |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Max Rufus Mosley 13 April 1940 London, England |
| Died | 23 May 2021 (aged 81) London, England |
| Cause of death | Suicide by gunshot |
| Spouse |
Jean Taylor (m. 1960) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parents | |
| Relatives |
|
| Residence | Monaco |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Max Rufus Mosley (13 April 1940 – 23 May 2021) was a British businessman, lawyer and racing driver. He served as president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body for Formula One.
A barrister and amateur racing driver, Mosley was a founder and co-owner of March Engineering,[1] a racing car constructor and Formula One racing team. He dealt with legal and commercial matters for the company between 1969 and 1977 and became its representative at the Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA), the body that represents Formula One constructors. Together with Bernie Ecclestone, Mosley represented FOCA at the FIA and in its dealings with race organisers. In 1978, he became the official legal adviser to FOCA. In this role, Mosley and Marco Piccinini negotiated the first version of the Concorde Agreement, which settled a long-standing dispute between FOCA and the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA), a commission of the FIA and the then governing body of Formula One. Mosley was elected president of FISA in 1991 and became president of the FIA, FISA's parent body, in 1993. Mosley identified his major achievement as FIA President as the promotion of the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP or Encap).[1] He also promoted increased safety and the use of green technologies in motor racing. In 2008, stories about his sex life appeared in the British press, along with allegations regarding Nazi connotations. Mosley successfully sued the newspaper that published the allegations and maintained his position as FIA president. He stood down at the end of his term in 2009 and was replaced by his preferred successor, Jean Todt.
Mosley was the youngest son of Sir Oswald Mosley, former leader of the British Union of Fascists, and Diana Mitford.[1] He was educated in France, Germany, and Britain before attending university at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated with a degree in physics. He then changed to law and was called to the bar in 1964. In his teens and early twenties, Mosley was involved with his father's post-war political party, the Union Movement (UM). He commented that the association of his surname with fascism stopped him from developing his interest in politics further, although he briefly worked for the Conservative Party in the early 1980s, and was a donor to the Labour Party from the New Labour era until 2018.
Mosley was the subject of Michael Shevloff's 2020 biographical documentary Mosley.[2] He died at the age of 81 on 23 May 2021.[3] An inquest confirmed his death as suicide following a diagnosis of terminal cancer.[4]
- ^ a b c "Former FIA President Max Mosley Dies at 81". 25 May 2021.
- ^ "New Mosley film includes segments he "would've cut"". Motorsport Network. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
ripwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Former F1 boss Max Mosley shot himself after terminal cancer diagnosis". BBC News. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 March 2022.