Stewart queries FIA role

Jackie Stewart has launched a stinging attack on the way the FIA governs the sport, questioning the scope of the role of the president.

Although Stewart didn’t name Max Mosley in his speech at the Motor Sport Business Forum in Monaco, this was the latest chapter in a war of words between the two.

“I honestly want to avoid any unpleasantness between individuals in what I’m now going to say,” Stewart told the audience. “There’s been more than enough in past weeks. But for the future stability of motor sport, and F1 in particular, I believe there has to be the removal of any concern about the genuine independence and transparency of the governance of the sport by the FIA.” He went on to suggest that the next FIA president should not be a motor sport insider, but should be headhunted from business.

The day after Stewart’s speech the FIA revealed that it is taking legal action against The Sunday Times in respect of a column in which Martin Brundle had described the McLaren spy affair as a “witch-hunt.” A furious Brundle replied to the charge in print that weekend, and in turn drew a withering response from the FIA.