Mosley Dismayed by Time Wasting Meetings

Max Mosley, the president of motorsport's governing body - the FIA - blamed increasing frustration at the indecision of Formula One and World Rally teams for his surprising decision to quit his position later this year.

Mosley, who has been in his post since 1993, said the teams were guilty of "time wasting" during vital meetings to decide the future of their sports and admitted he sometimes felt it would be more productive to spend his days on the beach.

Mosley has been trying to work with the ten Grand Prix team chiefs to reduce costs and improve the spectacle and safety of the sport but now feels he has achieved as much as he can in his role.

"I've got to the point now where I no longer find it interesting or satisfying to sit in long meeting, particularly with the Formula One teams and the World Rally Championship teams," said Mosley.

"People often agree things and then they go away after the meeting and change their minds completely and that means you've wasted a day. Sometimes one asks oneself 'isn't it more fun to sit on the beach with an interesting book?'.

"You shouldn't stay in a job that is as important as the FIA if it doesn't really fascinate you. I have achieved in the job everything I have set out to achieve and I'm grateful to the people who have helped me do that."

Mosley announced a raft of cost-cutting suggestions in May, including engine design changes, a single tyre manufacturer and customer chassis, but the teams failed to agree to the proposals before the deadline to introduce them in 2006.

At the FIA world motorsport council meeting on Wednesday he outlined demands for the sport to improve safety after claiming recent crashes have "tested the absolute limits" of the sport's safety levels.

He has long been a crusader for safety improvements and he added: "I've got one final thing I have to do and that is push through the changes to Formula One which I explained (in Wednesday). That will be set in motion next Tuesday."