No Opposition for Mosley in FIA Election

Although Mosley has been dogged by rumours for much of the year that he would face opposition for next Friday's FIA presidential election, sources have revealed that he will now be unchallenged on his way to what will be a fourth term in office.

High level FIA insiders have revealed that, according to internal procedures within the governing body, candidates had to put forward their bid to stand as president by October 7. And, with no-one having come forward by that date, Mosley's re-election now appears to be a formality.

When asked by Autosport-Atlas about whether it was true Mosley would not face any opposition in the election, an FIA spokesman said: "I can confirm that the deadline for any candidate to stand against him has passed."

The news of Mosley's run to another presidential term comes ahead of a crunch week for Formula One, with a Formula One Commission meeting on Monday set to decide on changes to the sport - including qualifying and future technical regulations.

Although Mosley may face criticism from some team bosses in the meeting who are unhappy with the way he has run the sport, the election situation means that any opposition he faces in the meeting will have no impact on the outcome of the vote.

Mosley boosted his chances of winning the election earlier this year when he restructured the way the presidency would be run to make it similar to governments - with candidates putting themselves forward with a cabinet of deputies.

In a letter to FIA's senior representatives worldwide written earlier this year, Mosley claimed that the role of president had got too large for one man.

"The FIA has become a complex organisation," wrote Mosley. "Not only is it (as it has always been) the world governing body of all forms of motor sport, but it has in recent years become an important world-wide influence for all aspects of everyday motoring.

"Quite clearly all of this can no longer be managed adequately by just the FIA president assisted by a secretariat. What is needed is a team, almost a government."

The changes made it harder for wildcard candidates to come forward at the last minute in the hope of capitalising on a negative vote.

It is understood that Mosley has submitted the names of the candidates for his cabinet, but the FIA have not released these into the public domain.