Mosley: No Long-Term Damage to F1 after Austria

The president of the FIA, Max Mosley, does not believe the Austrian Grand Prix controversy will do Formula One or Ferrari long term damage.

Mosley, one of the sport's most powerful figures, was speaking in Monaco as Formula One reassembled for the first time since Ferrari controversially ordered Rubens Barrichello to surrender his first victory in almost two years to teammate Michael Schumacher.

"I was surprised by the strength of the reaction but I don't think it is going to do any damage to the image of Formula One," Mosley said. "I don't think it will do any long term damage to Ferrari either, although it might do a little bit of damage in the short term.

"In fact, the reaction was a tremendous endorsement for Formula One. If the same thing had happened at a motor cross meeting in lower Saxony I don't think there would be anything like the same kind of reaction. It is a reflection of the popularity of the sport."

Mosley admitted, however, that despite the controversy there is little the FIA could do to prevent Ferrari, or any other team, from repeating these tactics.

"Many people were not happy with what went on and are saying things like we should ban team orders but that is not practical," the FIA president said. "We couldn't enforce it and there would only be arrangements that would be made before the start of a race or in the pitstops.

"It is against the rules for two teams to collude but what Ferrari did is not against the rules at all. There are rules about interfering with competition but we established a long time ago that team orders are allowed."

Nonetheless, the FIA's powers are limitless as was shown when Spain was stripped of its Grand Prix for a year after the local mayor at Jerez fiddled with the prize-giving ceremony.

Ferrari face the World Motorsport Council on June 26th on two counts: the first concerns the way the race result was changed on the final bend, and the second centers on the podium ceremony in which Schumacher hoisted Barrichello onto the winner's podium and then handed him the winner's trophy.

Asked about the June 26th hearing, Mosley said: "It would not be right for me to talk about what might happen at the hearing. When you have a hearing and listen to all side things often tend to sound very different to the way you had thought previously. That is why people have hearings."

He did however elaborate on the prodeedings, stating that "the hearing will first establish whether the rules were broken and then what the punishment might be if they were broken. We could do anything from a reprimand, to a fine, a ban, or even take away a Championship. There is a wide spectrum of what we could do.

"But the punishment has to be in line with the offense."