Max and Bernie on Michael

FIA president Max Mosley

Q: What's your overall feeling on what went on?

Mosley:"I'm very disappointed from the point of view of the race, because it was all building up to a brilliant race. But there's no question that what was evident just from an ordinary spectator's point of view was enough to start an enquiry.

"Of course once an enquiry starts, the stewards have access to all the data, all the telemetry, all the different shots from different cameras. And they looked at that for hours, and came to a conclusion. It's not for me to comment on the conclusion."

Q: But you saw it as a spectator on TV like everyone else. As a former driver, what did you think?

Mosley:"It's not for me to comment, but it looked strange. My racing is such a long time ago that I'm not qualified to comment from that point of view, but it looked strange. Obviously we should have an enquiry, and then when you have an enquiry, if they came to the conclusion that it was not a straightforward accident, then they really had no choice but to do what they did."

Q: How important is it to set a precedent like this? There have been lots of situations with people being held up, and it's getting very intense in qualifying...

Mosley:"I think it's very important, if you do think that something was not correct, to take action. We've now had a couple of people penalised for holding up another driver, and then obviously this incident.

"I think all the drivers now realise that they've got to play it straight. They wouldn't penalise a driver if it obviously wasn't deliberate that he held somebody up, but the moment there's any hint that he didn't do everything he could to get out of the way, they do something.

"This is only fair, because it's actually better for the drivers. It must be incredibly frustrating if you've done two really hot sectors, you come to the third one, and somebody holds you up or there's been an accident. Overall, I think the stewards are quite right to send a strong message saying that any interference with the qualifying system will be penalised."

Q: Are you disappointed that a seven-time world champion would do something like that?

Mosley:"I wouldn't like to stand here and say he did it deliberately. All I can say is that the stewards obviously felt there was enough evidence to penalise him. When you're operating at the very top level of the sport, and you're under enormous pressure, things happen.

"And you see this in professional football. It's just one of those things - it's sport. But in the end, when all's said and done, it's not a real drama; nobody's been hurt. At the end of the championship, it may make no difference. We shall see."

Q: Do you think that it was just a spontaneous thing and it happened very quickly, rather than being pre-planned and so on?

Mosley:"You can say that, but on the other hand if you were going to do it, all he had to do was slide into the barrier on the last corner before the barrier. The Ferrari argument was, 'if we were going to do it, we'll do it better than that!' I don't think it's right for me to sort of express a view. I just do want to make sure that qualifying is completely fair."

Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone in discussion following qualifying © XPB/LAT

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone

Q: What's your opinion about what happened?

Ecclestone: "To be absolutely honest with you, I wasn't watching that closely to judge the incident. But apparently the stewards judged it for eight hours, with all the information they had at their disposal, and came to the conclusion that maybe what he did, he did on purpose."

Q: He's been found guilty, so are you disappointed that he's done something like that?

Ecclestone: "If what he did was deliberate, I'm disappointed that he would have to stoop to do something like that, a world champion. And I assume that the reason was to stop [Fernando] Alonso from being a bit quicker and being on pole. Second or first on the grid is the same at Monaco anyway."

Q: It's not the way to end a career, is it?

Ecclestone: "I hope he's not going to end his career."

Q: But it's yet another blot...

Ecclestone: "Well, it's not a good thing to have on your CV. But he's not going to be looking for another job, so I suppose it won't make any difference."

Q: There were some incidents a few years ago, but he hasn't really done anything naughty for a few years. Does it surprise you that suddenly, out of the blue, there's another problem, another situation where he's saying 'I didn't do it'?

Ecclestone: "He has to decide what he wants to say, doesn't he? I don't think he'll get an Oscar for his performance, actually!"

Q: Was it important for the stewards to make a point, and clamp down on it?

Ecclestone: "It wasn't making a point, was it? They said, I believe, the conclusion was, they thought what he'd done was deliberate, and they thought he didn't tell the truth when they were questioning him, so that was the reason that he was punished so severely."

Q: They've been quite tough on blocking and so on, and there's a permanent steward this year...

Ecclestone: "They took [Giancarlo] Fisichella back, didn't they, for blocking [David] Coulthard? It's good."