Mosley could run for re-election

In the wake of the scandal surrounding his private life last year, Mosley revealed that he fully intended to step down when his current term comes to end in October.

But ahead of a deadline he has set himself of June to make his mind up about whether to stand for a fifth time, Mosley has now suggested that such is the support he is receiving within the FIA to carry on, that he would be silly to walk away.

"When a lot of people say 'you should stay', it would be sort of churlish not to," Mosley told media during a lunch in London on Wednesday.

"At the moment they are saying that and it's very flattering. I'm conscious that a decision has to be made, probably at the meeting of the FIA World Council at the end of June."

Mosley added that he expected up to seven candidates to enter the race to be the new FIA president, although rubbished recent speculation in the Scottish media suggesting that the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin was in the running.

"Last week Sir Fred called me to say it was all nonsense. He was obviously rather embarrassed," Mosley said.

"The interesting thing is where it (the rumours) could have come from. It has to be someone with some kind of connection to F1. He's got to have some connection with Scotland.

"He's got to have no understanding of how F1 or the FIA work, and he has to be unusually stupid. There's at least one person who ticks all those boxes."