Max Mosley - Formula One and beyond : the autobiography

First published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2015
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Copyright 2015 by Max Mosley

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Hardback: 978-1-47115-019-7
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To Jean, Alexander and Patrick

When in 1969 I decided to abandon a promising career as a lawyer and go into motor racing, my father said Id probably go bankrupt but it would be good training for something serious later on. Bankruptcy was narrowly avoided, and the motor racing did ultimately evolve into something very serious. Controversy was inevitable and a great deal of misinformation has appeared on the web and in print. I believe the time has come to tell what really happened, hence this book.

Primarily its the inside story of Formula One and its evolution since the 1960s. Much of it is not generally known and some not known at all. Part describes some of the many business and political conflicts along the way; part is how we reduced the risks for motor sport participants (and later for all road users); and part sets out to explain how Formula One made Bernie Ecclestone very rich (or perhaps it was the other way round).

Although mainly about motor sport, particularly Formula One, it is also an account of serious political work in the EU on passenger car safety and the environment, as well as a major conflict with the EU Commissions Competition Directorate. It describes how we used Brussels politics and lobbying to bring about important changes to road cars and road safety generally, and how it all started with Formula One.

Motor sport is not for everyone so I have tried to explain what happened and why in a way the non-enthusiast will readily understand and I hope find interesting. Also included is an outline of my life before starting in Formula One, including an attempt to explain why, together with many friends who I think were otherwise sane individuals, I was prepared to accept the appalling risks of driving racing cars in the 1960s.

Many different activities took place simultaneously; for example, the Formula One controversies that happened at the same time as Brussels politics. I thought it best to split the topics broadly into separate chapters without worrying too much about overall chronology. I hope this approach will be useful for those who may be interested in some parts of the story but perhaps not all of it.

The final chapters contain an account of an unprovoked attack by Rupert Murdochs News of the World. It felt like being mugged on the street and I decided to hit back, hoping at the very least to make it more difficult for his newspapers to do anything similar to others in the future. Apart from defeating them in the courts, I explain how I was later able to help uncover serious criminality at the newspaper.

Inevitably, Ive had to leave a lot out. It would be possible to write several books on the material. If I went into all the detail, the result would be longer still. Nevertheless, the salient information, at least most of what I have been able to remember or find in contemporaneous documents, notes and writings, is here. I hope and think I have covered all the questions that matter.

It may seem strange that there is no account of my family life. My wife and family are mentioned when directly relevant to the story but not otherwise. The reason is we have always been very private and want to keep it that way. Both my wife Jean and my surviving son Patrick have said they would prefer our family life to be left out. I agree with them and have respected their wishes.

A number of people have helped me by looking at my account of events they were involved in and adding to, and in some cases correcting, my memories. I am very grateful to Pierre de Coninck, Dominic Crossley, Ken Daly, Alan Donnelly, Robin Herd, Mike Kingston, Stephen Kinsella, Jean Mosley, Patrick Mosley, Adam Parr, Marco Piccinini, Tony Purnell, David Reeves, David Ward, Charlie Whiting, Richard Woods and Peter Wright for taking so much trouble. I am particularly grateful to Maurice Hamilton for checking the motor racing facts and giving me valuable advice on the overall structure; to Robert Skidelsky, who very kindly looked at the manuscript as someone not involved with motor sport and helped me greatly in my attempts to make the motor sport sections comprehensible; and to my PA, Pat Tozer, who took on the task of sorting out the huge quantity of disordered files, photographs and press cuttings I had accumulated. Finally, Ian Marshall at Simon & Schuster recognised the need for some work on my English and the overall structure, and I am very grateful to him as well as to Rob Bagchi, Lorraine Jerram and Katie Thraxton who between them greatly improved it. After all that, the mistakes that remain are mine alone.