Max Mosley scuppers Sir Fred’s F1 chances

From the unbelievable-but-true department: In January, before the news broke of his £16m pension pot, Sir Fred Goodwin, former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, was being considered as a potential new head of Formula 1 motor racing, to take over from the equally controversial Max Mosley.

However, the sport’s governing body, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), no doubt mindful of Sir Fred’s steadfast refusal to surrender so much as a penny of his £14,000-per-month pension, have now had cause to re-consider.

According to the London Evening Standard, Max Mosley (pictured), who will turn 69 on April 13, is poised to announce that he will stand for re-election when his current term of office comes to an end next month, believing that he is the only person who can run it properly during these difficult times. He had said he would stand down on his 69th birthday, but in a recent interview with the International Herald Tribune, Mosley stated: "If a lot of people say to you that you should stay, it's sort of churlish in a way not to."

If this happens it will be quite a turnaround. Last year the Formula 1 boss became a national figure of fun when he fought a landmark privacy action against the News of the World, which had run a story claiming that he had participated in a Nazi-themed, sado-masochistic orgy with five call-girls. He did not deny the orgy part, only that it was Nazi themed, and this was upheld by the judge who awarded him £60,000 damages.

Before the trial there were demands from some of the sport’s biggest noises, among them Sir Jackie Stewart and Bernie Ecclestone, that he stand down as head of the FIA. But Mosley managed to win a vote of no confidence vote and has held onto his job.