Friendship put to the test
One intriguing, but to date little-analysed, side-effect of the entire Max Mosley matter has been the relationship between the FIA president and Formula One's de facto ringmaster and the aristocratic former barrister's friend of over 40 years, Bernie Ecclestone.
Although it has never been recorded exactly when they met, the chances are pretty damn good that the latter's management of Formula Two star Jochen Rindt through to the sport's only posthumous champion's death at Monza in September 1970 brought him into contact with erstwhile F2 racer Mosley in about 1967.
Then, when Ecclestone purchased the Brabham team in 1972 their paths crossed again for Mosley was by then team principal of March, which, like the former team, was an independent constructor relying on the own-monocoque-Cosworth-Hewland model, invariably shod by Goodyear.