Mosley Defends Decision to Delay Penalty

The seven Michelin teams were found guilty on two charges of damaging the image of F1, by not having suitable tyres for the race and wrongfully refusing to start the event, at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council on Wednesday.

But in explaining why the FIA decided to delay a decision on the punishments until an extraordinary meeting on September 14, Mosley claimed it allows the team a chance to repair the damage their actions have caused.

"It would be unfair to impose severe penalties today," he said. "By September, if nothing has been changed, then it would be fair."

Mosley claims that the priority of the FIA is to ensure that the United States Grand Prix fans are sufficiently compensated for what happened at Indianapolis, and that the teams guarantee there will be no repeat of such tyre problems at future races.

Should the teams be able to resolve those issues then the likelihood is that they will escape severe punishments in September.

"The main thing was to secure compensation for the guys in the States, that was our number one priority and to make sure F1 maintains a position in the United States," explained Mosley.

"I want to give them fair and reasonable time to sort everything out."

Mosley also made it clear that BAR would not be singled out for extra punishment, even though the outfit are under a six-month suspended ban for breaching the technical regulations earlier this year.

Referring to the fact that BAR were not alone in withdrawing from the US GP, Mosley said: "The suspended ban was for a reason and as long as they (BAR) did not transgress in a similar area then it would not be a problem. It would be unfair to single them out when the others had a problem."