FIA rejects criticism aimed at Donnelly

FOTA wrote to FIA president Max Mosley a few days ago complaining about the behaviour of Donnelly at the Turkish Grand Prix - where it claimed he had been 'misrepresenting' the position of the teams in a bid to split FOTA.

In the letter, a copy of which has been seen by AUTOSPORT, FOTA asked Mosley to act about Donnelly's behaviour.

"We would like to bring your attention to concerns that FOTA have regarding the conflict of interest of the role of the FIA Permanent Chairman of the Stewards who is also your representative in your absence during grand prix weekends," wrote the letter, signed by the eight FOTA members.

"It was apparent during the Turkish Grand Prix that several discussions were held between the aforementioned person and several Formula 1 team representatives with a clear intention to create division between the FOTA teams by misrepresenting the positions of these teams.

"The situation raises serious doubts on the autonomy of the judicial functions from the executive functions of the FIA, that needs to be separated for a proper governance of the Federation.

"In the FIA's role as regulator, it is imperative that the Chairman of the Stewards remains totally impartial and we therefore respectfully request that these roles are separated."

The FIA is unmoved, however, by FOTA's claims - and dismisses the allegations made against Donnelly.

An FIA spokesman told AUTOSPORT: "The FIA utterly rejects the suggestion made by FOTA in their recent correspondence."

Although the current row between FOTA and the FIA is dominated by the £40 million budget cap, the issue of governance remains a major issue for the teams.