Max Mosley 1940-2021
It’s perhaps inevitable that Max Mosley, who has died of cancer at the age of 81, will be forever defined by the tabloid scandal that dominated the last chapter of his life. But that shouldn’t divert attention from the huge impact he made on motorsport over the decades. Mosley helped Bernie Ecclestone to build Formula 1 into the commercial giant that we know today, and as FIA president he reformed and modernised the organisation and relentlessly pursued safety improvements throughout the sport. He also pushed to improve road safety, a campaign that has saved countless lives worldwide.
Combining fierce intelligence with a ruthless determination and an easy charm that could win over opponents, Mosley was a powerful personality who would surely have succeeded in any career that he chose to pursue. His major regret was that he was never able to enter mainstream politics, a legacy of his family background. He could never escape the fact that his father was Sir Oswald Mosley, the notorious leader of the British Union of Fascists. When the former Conservative and Labour MP married society girl Diana Mitford in Germany in 1936, Adolf Hitler was the guest of honour.
The Mosleys were interned in 1940, and Max – who was born in April that year – spent his early life with his parents in Holloway
