Paul Stoddart, team boss of Minardi, has told the News of the World he will quit F1 and sell his team if FIA boss Max Mosely doesn’t resign…
The bombshell comment came when he told a reporter from the newspaper, “If Max doesn’t resign then I am not staying in F1. Life is too short to be invovled in this political s**t. That’s it as far as I am concerned. I will finnish this season off and see what happens. If Max stays, I am going to put the team up for sale.”
Stoddart has been one of the leading figures in recent times in the revolution against Max Mosely, most noticeably at Indy a few weeks ago when he almost pulled his Bridgestone clad cars out of the race in protest to nothing being done to help the Michelin runners compete when they brought faulty tyres.
He also took the FIA and Max Mosely to court at the start of the season when his team couldn’t afford to build a car to the new specifications, which he claimed were unfairly brought in.
Mosely has come under severe criticism in recent years over numerous issues. He even resigned last year at the French grand prix, but later changed his mind.
However, Stoddart believes Indy was the last straw and he reckons a serious standoff is on the cards.
“The teams have had a gutfull of Max,” he said. “Either he goes or F1 as we know it today will go. I think a breakaway series is guaranteed. It doesn’t matter who replaces him. He is so bad now anyone could do it.”