OCTOBER 23, 2000

Mosley and Dennis cross swords (again)

MAX MOSLEY, the president of Formula One's governing body the FIA, has released copies of a letter that he has sent to McLaren's Ron Dennis after the Japanese Grand Prix complaining about Dennis's consistent public criticism of the way in which the FIA runs Formula 1 and his suggestions that the governing body has been favoring Ferrari. The issue came to a head in Suzuka when Dennis questioned whether the FIA should have an Italian steward at the Japanese GP.

Mosley justified the appointment of Roberto Causo and asked Dennis to send a letter of apology to the Italian lawyer. Mosley also suggested that Dennis's actions in Suzuka could be seen as "a breach of the Internationwal Sporting Code".

What the letter did not say was that in addition to writing a letter to the FIA Stewards in Suzuka (which was delivered only an hour before the race) Dennis visited the stewards just half an hour before the race began and they are believed to have felt rather intimidated by this. Whatever the case, Mosley did not reveal all in the letter and judging by Dennis's response to it, the McLaren boss has concluded that it is best to back down and not push the FIA too hard for fear that there might be a reaction on this issue.

Dennis took the line that his comments had been misinterpreted by the media.

The McLaren boss said he had thought "long and hard" about his response after receiving Mosley's letter, but felt that the best course of action was to make no further comment. This decision will hopefully mean that there will be less bad feeling between the various parties in the future which will help to lighten the atmosphere in F1.