Formula One: After two weeks, why did Mosley change his mind?

On a normal week for the French Grand Prix, major announcements for next season usually take place.

For example, it is a tradition that the home team, Renault makes their decision on who will be driving next season.

However, this time around, it did not occur.

What was even more surprising was that the July 1st announcement that current FIA boss Max Mosley was stepping down at the end of the season race in Brazil.

This was a shock that Mosley, who had already run his presidency for many years now, would suddenly quit. He also stated that he would not be changing his mind.

Just this week, Mosley was persuaded to remain with the FIA until his term is fully over at the end of next season.

So much for keeping his promise.

What did the FIA say to Mosley to change his mind? Especially after the fact that he would say that his mind was made up?

Mosley had already been under threat that the major manufactures, Ferrari (owned by FIAT) BMW, Daimler Chrysler (Mercedes), Ford, and Renault all had decided that the rules had been too ridiculous and voted on having their own racing series.

This idea was later scrapped, thanks to Formula One Management chief Bernie Ecclestone's decision to talk with the group to stay in the current F1 status.

But, was the FIA's persuasion to keep Mosley around longer meant that they need more time to put everything into place? Or maybe they need more time to find a replacement? The questions could go on and on.

One of the key issues comes in the next few years.

FIA needs to cut a lot out of Formula One, especially when the costs are higher here than in any kind of racing series that the FIA governs.

Next season for example, the FIA wants to reduce the amount of tires that a formula one team needs for next season from a driver needing six tires per weekend, per driver.

Also the idea of raising the front wing drag to slow the car down was another idea. Then of course, is the engine, which needs to be more reliable, for the fact that this part of the car needs to be used for more than one race, and could be totally changed to a slower V-8 engine model in 2006.

The fact is, whoever replaces Mosley in the future might have to change ideas that the old president had already implemented.

It's also possible that FIA does not want Mosley to leave such a mess, which they cannot control after he is gone.

This is something that their egos could not handle after a man, who has pretty much controlled the cards for so many years, has to suddenly give the reins to someone else.