Bernie Ecclestone has warned Max Mosley, the disgraced president of the FIA, that if he wants a war over the future of Formula One, Ecclestone and his business partners will fight him. Speaking to The Times during the build-up to this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, Ecclestone said that he hoped that a recent letter sent by Mosley to the presidents of all the FIA member clubs that was sharply critical of Ecclestone, even if it did not name him, was not intended as a declaration of hostilities.

“I sincerely hope that it isn't a declaration of war because, if that's what the message should be, then we'll have to defend ourselves,” Ecclestone said. “That is what anyone would do. I don't believe that's what Max wanted the letter to say. I don't want to have a war with Max. I hope he doesn't want one with me.”

Ecclestone added that the crisis surrounding Mosley, after revelations about his alleged appetite for sadomasochistic sex with prostitutes, is about the FIA president's personal conduct and had nothing to do with Formula One. Mosley had claimed in his letter that the FIA as a whole is under attack and alleged that Ecclestone is trying to take over Formula One and wrest control of its regulatory framework from the FIA.

Ecclestone dismissed Mosley's claims. “This whole business is really about what was printed in the News of the World and whether this in any way damaged the FIA clubs or the FIA - that's all,” he said. “It's nothing to do with anything else and I don't quite know why he's come out and said these things. I am sorry if the press have reported things which he doesn't like, but we certainly don't have any influence over the FIA.”

Ecclestone has kept his counsel for weeks about the scandal engulfing Formula One, but yesterday he revealed that the board of CVC Capital Partners, which owns the commercial rights to motor racing's most prestigious championship, had met to discuss Mosley's latest claims. The tone of the meeting was said to be one of “irritation and anger” at these and other alarmist suggestions by Mosley that are being seen by CVC as an attempt to deflect attention from the core issue, which is Mosley's fitness to continue as FIA president.

Speaking shortly after the meeting, Ecclestone told The Times that CVC is taking the unprecedented step of writing to all the presidents of the FIA member clubs, who will vote on Mosley's future on June 3, to set the record straight. “We have decided we are going to contact all the clubs who Max wrote to, with a reply to the matters raised in his letter,” Ecclestone said.

He then underlined that the FIA meeting on June 3 in Paris should be about Mosley's fitness for office, not wider issues connected with the management of Formula One. “I think the General Assembly of the FIA was called for one reason only - to decide whether or not they think Max is the right person to be their president,” Ecclestone said. “The vote will be on that, not about the Concorde Agreement [the contract under which the teams race in Formula One].”

In his letter, which was leaked by Mosley's staff to the press on Friday, Mosley argued that Formula One was facing a “major financial crisis” and that renegotiation of the so-called “100-year agreement” under which CVC and Ecclestone are granted the commercial rights should be seen as a battle for control of the sport that could put the viability of the FIA at risk. The same could be argued, according to Mosley, of the negotiations on a new “Concorde Agreement”.

Ecclestone dismissed each point. He said that the idea that Formula One is in crisis is ridiculous. “I don't see any problems up until a couple of months ago,” he said in reference to the News of the World revelations.

Mosley is planning to visit the Formula One paddock in Monte Carlo this week, his first public appearance since the scandal broke. Ecclestone said that he had no problem with this and he believes that it is a big enough event not to be overshadowed by Mosley's presence. “Monaco is Monaco and the race has been there an awful long time,” he said. “I don't know what would distract anybody from that.”

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