Mosley hits out at Montezemolo, Ferrari

Luca di Montezemolo is a weak character and his team would not be winning races using the same budget as its rivals, according to former FIA president Max Mosley

The former FIA president criticised di Montezemolo, the current Ferrari president, in an interview that appears in the May edition of F1 Racing on sale today.

Mosley said: "Luca is very, very good with people and he's certainly a very personable, pleasant person, but, in my opinion, he's also a very weak character so he's easily led."

Mosley's comments came after a number of revelations he made when responding to an F1 Racing reader's question on whether the FIA favoured Ferrari.

"We never did favour Ferrari, although there was this perception that we did. You could go to Ferrari and they would be completely honest and open with you; most of the other teams wouldn't do that."

However, Mosley admits that the FIA had handled the events of the Malaysian GP in 1999 incorrectly, when Ferrari was nearly thrown out of the race for barge board irregularities.

"They were legal if they were at a slight angle to the chassis and illegal if they were vertical," Mosley said. "I think that they were probably vertical, but we took them off to look at them, and then Ferrari [said], 'No, they were at a slight angle', and they got off on that basis.

"We should have impounded the entire car, but you live and learn and we would never make that mistake again."

He also claimed that Ferrari was "not prepared to take on the other teams on an equal basis," saying the Maranello squad would "fail" if it used the same budget as its rivals.

"Between January and May in 2008, we had a series of meetings and everyone was agreed on the cost-cap and the methodology - but Ferrari were always against it," said Mosley. "I think it's because they know that if they had the same amount of money to spend as the other teams, they would fail."

Mosley said that any animosity directed towards him by fans during his tenure as FIA president was as a result of misconceptions.

"If the fans really understood the issues, I don't think they would be against me, because everything I've ever done has always been done with a view to keeping Formula 1 going and stopping it collapsing," said Mosley. "It's a much more fragile structure than people realise."

The May edition of F1 Racing is out in the shops on Thursday. In the 'You Ask The Questions' interview, Max Mosley talks about his presidency, his relationship with Ron and who he thinks deserves a knighthood.