Todt’s candidacy was supported by Mosley himself, so no big surprise here. He took 135 votes against Vatanen’s 49, with 12 abstentions.

After a successful rallying career, Todt made his name as a manager first with Peugeot, taking them to back-to-back Le Mans titles in 1992 and 1993, then with Ferrari, where he was the head of the Ross Brawn–Michael Schumacher–Rory Byrne machine which dominated the sport for close to a decade.

Flanking Todt above is Bond girl Michelle Yeoh, his current partner. Yes, the French have excellent taste.

Source: BBC

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

The 69-year-old, who had last month hinted he might go back on an earlier decision to stand down, revealed his decision in a letter to FIA members.

"I have decided to reconfirm my decision - I will not be a candidate in October," Mosley wrote.

Mosley has endorsed former Ferrari team boss Jean Todt as his successor. Yes, because luckily Todt's won't, you know, be rooting for any one team, right? Oh wait, yeah, he might be.

We've received a copy of the letter from FIA and have republished images of the scanned PDF file below along with a quick biography on Mosley. Click next to read through the whole shebang.

Max Rufus Mosley (born 13 April 1940) is president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), a non-profit association that represents the interests of motoring organisations and car users worldwide. The FIA is also the governing body for Formula One and other international motorsports.

A former barrister and amateur racing driver, Mosley was a founder and co-owner of March Engineering, a successful racing car constructor and Formula One racing team. He looked after legal and commercial issues for the company between 1969 and 1977. In the late 1970s, Mosley became the official legal adviser to the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA), the body which represents Formula One constructors. In this role he drew up the first version of the Concorde Agreement, which settled a long-standing dispute between FOCA and the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA), the then governing body of Formula One. Mosley was elected president of FISA in 1991 and became president of the FIA, FISA's parent body, in 1993. Mosley has identified his major achievement as FIA President as the promotion of the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP or Encap), a European car safety performance assessment programme. He has also promoted increased safety and the use of green technologies in motor racing. In 2008, stories about his sex life appeared in the British press. Despite the controversy, Mosley retained his position.

Mosley is the son of Oswald Mosley, former leader of the British Union of Fascists (BUF), and Diana Mitford. He was educated in France, Germany and Britain before going on to attend university at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated with a degree in physics. In his teens and early twenties Mosley was involved with his father's post-war political party, the Union Movement (UM). He has said that the association of his surname with fascism stopped him from developing his interest in politics further, although he briefly worked for the Conservative Party in the early 1980s. [via Wikipedia]

Photo Credit: Paul Gilham / Getty Images Sport

[via FIA]

[via FIA]

We know Formula One has had some trouble lately, but we're not sure if these unconventional views are recent or part of the reason Ecclestone gets such a weird rap. Among things he told The Times:

"If you have a look at a democracy it hasn't done a lot of good for many countries - including this one. I like people who make up their minds.

Some examples?

We did a terrible thing when we supported the idea of getting rid of Saddam Hussein, he was the only one who could control that country. It was the same [with the Taleban]. We move into countries and we have no idea of the culture. The Americans probably thought Bosnia was a town in Miami. There are people starving in Africa and we sit back and do nothing, but we get involved in things we should leave alone."

This isn't so bad and, all things considered, we sort of see where he's going with it. And then this happens:

"In a lot of ways, terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was in the way that he could command a lot of people able to get things done.

And what about the Holocaust?

"In the end he got lost so he wasn't a very good dictator. Either he knew what was going on and insisted, or he just went along with it - either way he wasn't a dictator."

You can see the rest of the profile and see nothing was taken out of context. Clearly, the interviewer knew what questions to ask. There is a lot more in there beyond the headline generating stuff about Hitler. Almost more offensive to us, when asked to choose between Lamborghini or Lexus he answered "Lexus."

[The Times]

SHAUN CURRY/AFP/Getty Images

Along with agreeing to not run for a fifth term as head of FIA, Mosley stated:

"There will be no split. We have agreed to a reduction of costs. There will be one F1 championship, but the objective is to get back to the spending levels of the early '90s within two years."

We'll have more shortly on what this all means. [Times Online]

You just know something’s amiss when you are greeted with FIA president Max Mosley’s very British grimace on Jalopnik as you boot up in the morning. Turns out “Formula 1 is finished,” as two-time world champion Fernando Alonso has described the current situation to the BBC.

The current situation is only slightly simpler than the internal politics of Afghanistan, with power-hungry old white men scheming behind closed doors. The only difference seems to be their lack of flowing beards and Stinger missiles—but then Max Mosley would make a great Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

What is the current situation, exactly? Most of the major teams have refused to accept Mosley’s scheme to turn Formula One into a two-tiered, budget regulated series, with teams who agree to run on an arbitrary budget set by Mosley getting access to slacker regulations: higher revving engines, more aggressive aerodynamics, the works. The teams have correctly argued that this runs against the very essence of Formula One: namely, that cars built to the same set of regulations–or formulae–race each other. Bunny rabbits may occasionally race against the cars, as seen at last year’s British Grand Prix, but they do not figure in the official results.

Mosley’s fear seems to be that current expenditures will drive major manufacturers out of the sport as car companies will not be willing to pay half a billion dollars a year for a vanity product in these financially bleak times. So far, the only manufacturer which has actually quit was Honda—but not before handing former team principal Ross Brawn the current season’s most dominant car, the BGP-001, campaigned with an 86% win rate thus far by Jenson Button.

Just to put Mosley’s budget cap in perspective: his suggested $65 million a year is exactly half as much as the amount paid a week ago by a Spanish football team for a single player. Great footballers have their price, even obnoxious bastards like Real Madrid’s latest pick Cristiano Ronaldo, but they certainly don’t require expensive, one-off machines made of carbon fiber and titanium to do their thing.

It’s all very sad, really, but is perhaps an inevitable conclusion to the bullying and thuggery Max Mosley and commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone have subjected Formula One to over the past decades. While many involved in F1 have become very rich in the meantime, the biggest money was made not by the people who actually go out there and race cars, but the very few who have brokered deals.

It may be unavoidable or it may be a historical artifact dating back to the late 70s when the very same duo made Formula One into the global media juggernaut it currently is. But it has certainly not helped the sport’s long-term survival. Formula One at the moment is subject to rapid, arbitrary rule changes and it is increasingly raced on tracks worlds away from the sport’s historic and financial heartlands—Europe and North America.

The series began in 1950 at Silverstone, a converted airfield in postwar England which will host its last race this Sunday. The teams have until today evening to reach a last minute compromise. Otherwise, the cars on the grid on Sunday afternoon may take part in not just the last grand prix at Silverstone—but in the last grand prix of a Formula One with a future.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images, DIMITRI KOCHKO/AFP/Getty Images, MAX NASH/AFP/Getty Images, SHAUN CURRY/AFP/Getty Images

The eight teams, Brawn GP, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso announced their decision following a four-hour meeting tonight ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

FOTA has been frustrated by deadlocked talks with Mosley over his controversial attempt to introduce a voluntary £40m budget cap for teams to curtail a "financial arms race" in F1. Below is the FOTA statement:

Since the formation of Fota last September the teams have worked together and sought to engage the FIA and commercial rights holder (Bernie Ecclestone), to develop and improve the sport."

"Unprecedented worldwide financial turmoil has inevitably placed great challenges before the F1 community.

"Fota is proud that it has achieved the most substantial measures to reduce costs in the history of our sport.

"In particular, the manufacturer teams have provided assistance to the independent teams, a number of which would probably not be in the sport today without the Fota initiatives.

"The Fota teams have further agreed upon a substantial voluntary cost reduction that provides a sustainable model for the future.

"Following these efforts, all the teams have confirmed to the FIA and the commercial rights holder that they are willing to commit until the end of 2012.

"The FIA and the commercial rights holder have campaigned to divide Fota.

"The wishes of the majority of the teams are ignored. Furthermore, tens of millions of dollars have been withheld from many teams by the commercial rights holder, going back as far as 2006.

"Despite this, and the uncompromising environment, Fota has genuinely sought compromise.

"It has become clear, however, the teams cannot continue to compromise on the fundamental values of the sport and have declined to alter their original conditional entries to the 2010 world championship."

This series will have transparent governance, one set of regulations, encourage more entrants and listen to the wishes of the fans, including offering lower prices for spectators worldwide, partners and other important stakeholders," added the statement.

"The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with the highest level of motorsport will all feature in this new series."

Photo Credit: Paul Gilham / Getty Images Sport

So here. At least the velocity trumpets are well chromed:

Source: Pitpass

The death has not been ruled as suspicious, though GrandPrix.com is reporting on speculation it was the result of a drug overdose. His father has canceled a trip to the Spanish GP in order be with his family.

[F1 Live, GrandPrix.com]

Photo Credit: SkyNews

The story everyone talked about in F1 was Max Mosley's reported nazi-style sex scandal, so Bernie decided a holiday card highlighting the horror would be the best route. Laughter is the best medicine, right?

Bernie's not one to avoid controversy with his personal holiday cards. Last year, the F1 CEO poked fun at the McLaren-Ferrari spy scandal, depicting a nervous Ron Dennis being handed a gift-wrapped present by former chief designer Mike Coughlan. But this year's cartoon takes things to an entirely different level.

The card cartoon allegedly shows Mosley whipping the member of an F1 team next to a monitor wearing fishnets and high heels. Other F1 members are depicted with "sore bottoms" so, you know, the usual Christmas message. We haven't actually seen the card so this is all "reported" — but if you've got one in your inbox or seen one in a forum please send it this way. Zank you! (Hat tip to Autophiles!)

[Source: F1 Live]

Ferrari Statement
"The Board of Directors of Ferrari SpA met today under the chairmanship of Luca di Montezemolo, to examine the third quarter results. The Board of Directors also examined the proposed changes to the Formula One regulations, in the light of the current global economic crisis.

"Whilst reiterating its wholehearted commitment to a substantial and needed reduction in costs in Formula One, starting with propulsion, the Ferrari Board of Directors expressed strong concerns regarding plans to standardise engines as it felt that such a move would detract from the entire raison of a sport with which Ferrari has been involved continuously since 1950, a raison d’etre based principally on competition and technological development.

"The Board of Directors expressed the opinion that should these key elements be diminished, it would have to re-evaluate, with its partners the viability of continuing its presence in the sport."

[F1-Live]

It's interesting that Mosley is promoting energy-efficient programs as the future of F1 racing, and it shows quite a bit of foresight. After all, kinetic energy recovery as developed under grueling race conditions has a good chance of resulting in improved systems for road-going cars. The question is, will race fans give a damn about how one team's KERS system is giving them an extra second per lap, or would they rather hear a tiny pneumatic-valve V8 spinning at 10,000 RPM as the driver bangs through a seven-speed sequential 'box? [Autosport.com]

MSNBC reports the tabloid was sued for invasion of privacy, with Mosley saying that, yes, he did have sexual relations, but that there were no Nazi overtones, and besides, the whole thing was just some good, clean fun in someone's basement. Good, clean fun involving throwing down with hookers and whips. We're still wondering what Max thinks is dirty fun. But we digress: Judge David Eady ruled in Mosley's favor, ordering the News of the World to pay $120,000 in damages. Which should, in turn, keep London's Nazi fetish hooker community busy. [MSNBC]

While Team Honda is believed to be the first organization racing with an active KERS system, the fact that Toyota, acknowledged as world leaders in hybrid technology, is admitting potentially insurmountable problems may lend credibility to calls for postponing KERS implementation. The system is intended to recover energy during braking, allowing it to be stored for later use as an electrical "boost" when needed.

We think the introduction of KERS could provide a new reason to watch what's become a rather dull sport, at least for the first season, as fans tune in to see how things play out. At the same time, if the system can't be proven safe above all else — not just for the drivers and mechanics, but also safe for track workers, rescue personnel, and spectators who could be in the vicinity of an accident — then rushing KERS into the program is a recipe for disaster. And, of course, higher TV ratings.
[Autosport.com; Photo Credit: AutoCult.com.au]

Mosley's Case: British laws protecting the rights of individuals against the press extend to him and this was a completely private affair.

News Of The World's Case: Mosley is a public figure and he committed a serious act of "depravity" and the public has a right to know about it.

X Factor: The witness who was the biggest part of the setup, Woman E, was supposed to testify that there was a specific request for a Nazi theme. She never showed up.

Jalopnik Snap Judgement: Because British laws are so strong on this point, we're pretty sure NOTW is going to lose this case. But it isn't going to make problems like this go away.

[NY Times]

In his libel suit against NOTW for publishing the story, Mosely told the judge:

"It's just more - fun is probably the wrong word - but it's much better if accompanied by something which seems to justify what is going on."

Don't you see everyone? We're the sick ones. The prison uniforms, the SS-style guard uniforms, the speaking in a weirdo German accent. How dare we think that's in any way related to Nazism! [SkyNews]

Dean Attew, who The Times describes as a "London-based business intelligence consultant", uncovered the plot. Attew formerly assisted Ecclestone with "a wide variety of issues concerning...business and family affairs," and still feels some loyalty to the Formula One owner. Now employed by Titon International, the company that was employing ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko when he was poisoned and in whose office traces of Polonium-210 were found, Attew was approached to assist in the plot to bring down Mosley by unnamed parties. Fearing that the plot could harm his former boss as well, he then brought that information to Ecclestone.

"Dean, you are not going to find anything because there's nothing there - he's Mr Boring in that sense," Ecclestone told Attew upon learning of the plot. Since the release of the Max Mosley sex video, Mosley has done nothing to address suggestions that Ecclestone was involved with the attempt to publicly discredit him, leaving Attew to feel under-appreciated for his efforts. [via The Times]

[American Driver]

To be fair, Bin Sulayem is a former rally driver and mover-and-shaker in the racing scene in that part of the world and could very well view this on moral grounds, but we don't think he should have called the setup a "terrorist attack on his personal life." How did he do it? Bin Sulayem claims to have controlled around 40 votes, mostly from African countries, which swayed the decision in favor of Mosley. Bin Sulayem is actually the guy behind the SLR-powered Mercedes SLK and, apparently, a big Michael Jackson fan. Just when you started to think F1 was actually about the racing. (h/t to PhkMark)

[Photo: Getty Images, GMM via F1-Live]