Extraordinary times

The FIA have just released a statement which announces that they will hold an Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting on the 'earliest practicable date'.

The statement goes on to say that 'the full membership of the FIA will be invited to attend the meeting at which the widespread publicity following an apparently illegal invasion of the FIA President's privacy will be discussed. The FIA has noted that Mr Mosley is preparing legal proceedings against the newspaper in question'.

Whether or not this rather opaquely worded statement means that Mosley retains the support of the organisation over which he presides or not remains unclear. It is entirely possible that this is part of Mosley's strategy to keep the focus on the 'invasion of privacy' angle - as Clive of F1 Insight reckons. However, there are other powers at play in this game. The support of the FIA may not be enough in the face of the apparent discontent amongst the manufacturers. If the teams were to come together and call for Mosley to resign - which remains a possibility - then it is likely that the support of the FIA will be nowhere near enough and that support, if it exists, will crumble quickly.

Whether dragging on this very public washing of dirty linen is appropriate is, of course, open to question. I would suggest that it is perhaps not the best way of maintaining the dignity and credibility of either Formula 1 or world motorsport in general.