Max Mosley gives thumbs down on Alonso’s drive for the championship
Max Mosley, the former president of FIA, recently declared that he didn’t want Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso to win as it would devalue the drivers’ championship.
With just two races remaining, Alonso leads the World title chase by 11 points over Red Bull's Mark Webber. Initially, as far as the Ferrari driver was concerned, the 2010 season got off to a bad start. Plagued by mediocre performances, Alonso only recently
got back on track, seizing four race wins in the last seven events.
Given his recent underdog upset, particularly at the Korean Grand Prix which took place just a week ago, one would think Mosely, a former racer himself, would have more admiration for Alonso’s dramatic upsurge.
However, what grabbed Mosely’s ire were the dubious circumstances surrounding the first of those wins which took place in Germany. During the race and acting under Ferrari’s orders via a coded message, team-mate Felipe Massa was instructed to move aside,
handing Alonso the victory.
While this controversial move cost Ferrari a $100,000 fine for giving team orders, a highly contentious practice that is banned in F1, Alonso’s win garnered seven extra points for the double World Championship.
The result of that chequered race has soured Mosley’s impression of the Ferrari team.
"I did feel at the very least that the extra points that Alonso got by overtaking Massa under team orders should have been taken away," Mosley said. “That's the absolute minimum, because if by any chance Alonso were to win the Championship with a margin
less than the seven points that he picked up, I would say it would devalue the Championship.”
While quickly noting that he was only giving his opinion in a strictly unofficial capacity, Mosley insisted he had no personal gripe with Alonso, but as a spectator, fan, and former president, he was motivated solely out of a desire for fair play and a level
playing field.
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