Former FIA president Max Mosley dies aged 81, Bernie Ecclestone confirms

Former president of the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) Max Mosley has died aged 81.

Mosley served as president of the FIA, the motor sports’ world governing body, from 1993 to 2009, when he stepped down.

He previously spent time in administrative roles for Formula One and was a keen motorsports racer, competing in over 40 races during the 1960s.

Mosley became involved in the sport after his wife, Jean Taylor, bought him tickets for the Silverstone circuit while he was studying at nearby Oxford University.

‘Max was like family’

He read physics at the high-ranking university, but later trained as a lawyer and became a barrister whose specialism was patent and trademark law.

Upon qualifying, he taught law in the evenings to save up for his own racing car.

Ex-Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone confirmed the news, describing his relationship with Mosley as “like brothers”.

Ecclestone told the PA news agency: “Max was like family to me. We were like brothers. I am pleased in a way because he suffered for too long.”

Mosley had fought cancer for several years.

Born in London in 1940, Mosley was the youngest son of 1930s British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley and Lady Diana Mosley.

Since 2008, the ex-racing car driver had become known for his involvement in campaigning for stronger privacy laws, after he won a court case against the News of the World for reporting and publishing images and videos of his involvement in a sadomasochistic sex session.

It was reported by the defunct paper as a “sick Nazi orgy.” The judge ruled there was no Nazi theme to the event, nor was it of public interest to report on his private life.