OCTOBER 4, 2000

Mosley hits back at Ferrari bias claims

FIA president Max Mosley has retaliated against claims that Formula One's ruling body are biased towards Ferrari.

Mosley has been accused by several teams, including Ferrari's fierce rivals McLaren, of showing bias towards the Italian team in this year's World Championship.

But the 60-year-old has defended his, and vice-president Bernie Ecclestone's, actions throughout his three-year spell as president and labelled the accusing teams as "paranoid."

"The problem is that there is always going to be someone who says that you show favoritism towards one team or another, despite there being no evidence of this," said Mosley.

"The story goes that Ecclestone and I want Ferrari to win the world championship because this would create more audience and would boost marketing and publicity.

"The truth is however that there would be no difference whatsoever if Ferrari were to lose. What is important is that Ferrari are competitive, and to be competitive they certainly don't need either of us.

"We have always acted correctly, but sometimes things happen that can create a certain amount of annoyance for Ferrari and at other times for the British teams.

"Unfortunately there are a couple of teams that have a rather limited view of things, and they see favoritism towards Ferrari. That's paranoia!"

To highlight his neutrality, Mosley refused to predict who will come out on top in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix, when Ferrari's Michael Schumacher aims to beat McLaren's Mika Hakkinen to the drivers' championship.

He added: "I really don't know who is going to win. I'm not making any predictions, as I might be accused of being pro-Ferrari!"