by Chia Han Keong

NOW that the shamelessly public politicking in Formula One has subsided, with Max Mosley to step down, can we focus on the sport again, please?

Perhaps fans have forgotten that there are still nine races remaining this year, amid what was blown up as "F1's biggest crisis in its 60 years of existence".

Jenson Button still has his first drivers' championship in his sights, Sebastian Vettel is still putting up a dogged chase in his Red Bull, and Lewis Hamilton is still sulking over his inferior McLaren.

But, seriously, after last week's potentially catastrophic near-split, do fans really care about what has been a dull F1 season, dominated by a superb Brawn GP team?

Oh, I'm sure the sponsors and the die-hard motor-racing fans still do.

But it's the casual fans that F1 should be worried about - because the nasty bickering is leaving a bad taste in their mouths.

They will realise that the whole charade of threatening to form a breakaway racing series was a move to pressure an ageing autocrat into leaving his considerably influential post as president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

Yes, Mosley could often be tyrannical in setting new rules and regulations in motor sports, infuriating the race-team principals, who feel they should have a bigger say in such decisions.

Yet, the manner in which the renegade teams nearly caused the F1 fraternity to fracture into a near-split is appalling, considering that the FIA merely wanted them to curb their spending.

Mosley, who endured a sex scandal last year and his son's apparent suicide last month, now comes across as more of a martyr for the sport than a fallen tyrant.

The Times of London wrote: "By taking the courageous decision to fight his corner, Mosley not only won widespread admiration, even from some of his critics, but ultimately also secured a deeply significant victory for the forces of progress and tolerance."

One would hope that the eight F1 teams, having got their wish in having Mosley removed, will now set about repairing their relationships with fans - such as offering more access to their drivers, perhaps.

But my guess is that such public power-wrangling will not end with the 69-year-old Mosley's departure.

Let's not forget another ageing supremo in the sport - 78-year-old Bernie Ecclestone, who has held F1's commerical rights since the 1970s.

A long-time ally of Mosley, will he be the next to go? And what of Mosley's successor at the FIA - will he be just as hated?

Sadly, the most likely scenario is that we would once again be subjected to such "crisis" threats like the breakaway bid in future.

Indeed, who's to stop these team bosses from trying again? Meanwhile, the actual sport of high-octane racing around the world's most famous circuits will, unfortunately, be relegated to the sidelines, as the sport's power-mongers continue their private battles.

hankeong@sph.com.sg

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