The often-forgotten roots of F1’s ‘new’ ideas 

During the run up to the British Grand Prix, London’s May Fair hotel provided the setting for the premiere of Michael Shevloff’s film ‘It’s Complicated’, documenting the life and times of Max Mosley. It was poignant to reflect, in some detail, on the life of the former FIA President a mere seven weeks after his passing.

It’s a good film, with plenty of archive footage of Mosley’s early forays in racing, initially as a driver and then as co-founder of March Engineering. The founding of the Formula One Constructors’ Association, Mosley’s partnership with Bernie Ecclestone and subsequent move into the corridors of power at the FIA, remind us of the political powerplay and borderline chaos that marked and marred Formula 1’s growth.

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Shevloff secured valuable contributions over several years. These included reflections from the late Robin Herd, co-founder of March, former Ferrari sporting director Marco Piccinini and Ecclestone. F1’s former CEO detailed significant regret at failing to stand by Mosley in the wake of the illegal 2008 tabloid exposé concerning his private life.

The 90-strong audience featured several other contributors, including five-times grand prix winner John Watson and
 David Ward, the man who continues Mosley’s campaign to 
improve vehicle and road safety. Adding a little Hollywood to proceedings were Mosley’s fellow media privacy campaigners 
Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan.

Current F1 team principals Guenther Steiner and Jost Capito attended, but it was a former team boss who helped remind us that Mosley’s vision for F1 was often ahead of its time.

Former Jaguar team boss Tony Purnell – founder of PI Research, purchased by Ford in 1999 and still going as Cosworth Electronics – was just a week away from jetting off to Tokyo for this year’s Olympic Games. In his role as Head of Technology at British Cycling he was relishing the prospect of seeing the team’s latest innovations in action and securing another haul of medals.

Max Mosley

Photo by: Uncredited

Purnell recalled first suggesting the Formula 1 budget cap to Mosley, who quickly realised this would be an excellent means of making the competition more equitable. It also meant handing the FIA even greater regulatory control and ending the biggest-spender-takes-all approach which was the hallmark of the manufacturer era.

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It was a win-win as far as Max was concerned, but in F1’s fractious environment it never made it across the line, despite forming a central pillar of the proposal to allow new teams to enter in 2010.

The fallout from ‘Spygate’, the scandalous News of the World ‘exclusive’ and the threat of a breakaway series put paid to the idea – and ultimately Mosley’s tenure at the FIA.

Purnell also related early discussions with Mosley about having more than one race per weekend and introducing reversed grids in an effort to mix things up – a popular idea in the wake of the Schumacher-Ferrari years. Once again, those stalwarts of sporting fairness and equality – the car manufacturers and major teams – were against the idea.

To coin a phrase, Mosley played all the right words but not necessarily in the right order – his combative style, and that of Formula 1’s other players, making consensus impossible. Over a decade later it’s fascinating to see Formula 1 running with both a budget cap and the sprint qualifying format, yet important to remember neither is a fresh idea.

These pieces of inspiration simply took time, a shared purpose and more collegiate approach to come to fruition.

Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL35M, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images