Formula One: Mosley's Power Plan Given Wary Reception

Max Mosley's attempt to recruit his old confederate Bernie Ecclestone to the FIA drew a wary response yesterday as formula one's teams gathered for Sunday's Monaco grand prix.

The predominant view was that moving the sport's commercial rights holder from his current role to a formal position within the sport's governing body might promote a different image. In reality it would leave Ecclestone and Mosley's hands still firmly on the levers of power.

That said, moving Mosley out of the front line in negotiations with the teams over the sport's commercial future beyond the expiry of the current Concorde agreement could be an astute move to appease those team principals who find the FIA president patronising and overbearing.

"Believe me, the problem in formula one at the moment is not the FIA, it's not the Concorde agreement and it's not Bernie," said one, who preferred to stay anonymous. "It's Max, and he has to go."

A subtle realignment within the sport's ruling corridors would suit Mosley as he prepares his campaign for re-election to the FIA presidency in October. The presence of Ecclestone, effectively as his running mate, would almost certainly deter any rivals from challenging him.

Mosley is looking to rekindle the partnership of the 1980s, when Ecclestone, who owned the Brabham team, was president of the Formula One Constructors' Association and Mosley was his legal adviser.

"He [Ecclestone] knows the business better than anyone and one of the things in our arrangements with his companies, and therefore with the banks and so on, is that we have to approve his successor [as commercial rights holder]," said Mosley.

"If he was sitting on our side of the fence he would play a major role - if not decide who that person was to be."

"I've heard all the rumours and stories," said McLaren's chief executive Martin Whitmarsh. "I don't understand the rationale and motivation behind it all. I think perhaps there needs to be a little more explaining."

The alliance may have been proposed as a means of putting pressure on the three banks who own 75% of Ecclestone's SLEC organisation - Bayerische Landesbank, JP Morgan Chase and Lehman Brothers - to sell back their holdings at a discounted price. It may also be intended as a way to intimidate the alliance of car manufacturers who are threatening to break away from 2008.

SLEC made no comment and Grand Prix World Championship (GPWC), which is committed to more operational transparency and a more equitable share of revenues to the teams, took a cautious line.

"We have made our position clear," said a spokesman. "It's really all a question of whether this change will benefit the GPWC objectives."

However, the Minardi team principal Paul Stoddart was in favour of Ecclestone's proposed move.

"Max has the power, Bernie has the expertise," he said. "Max probably wouldn't want to go forward without Bernie and the manufacturers don't want to go forward with Max. Perhaps this is a way of unlocking the solution."

On the circuit the championship leader Fernando Alonso signalled his determination to build on his world championship lead by setting the fastest time in the opening free-practice sessions, less than 0.1sec ahead of McLaren's test driver Alex Wurz. David Coulthard was third fastest for Red Bull on a circuit where he has won twice for McLaren.

"It's hard to know what other teams are doing with their fuel strategy," the Scot said. "Monaco is one of those events that can throw up a slightly unusual result. We'll just have to wait and see."