Auto Channel

Max Mosley’s scandalous personal life has been the final catalyst that convinced Volkswagen and its parent Porsche AG that Formula One has gone to the dogs. And the dogs don’t want it. VW chairman Ferdinand Piech told German magazine Stern: "300 million euros a year -- that is just burning money.”

The magazine quoted Wolfgang Porsche as saying: "And after the affair with Max Mosley

and the women it would not be very savoury to get involved [in Formula One] now."

Porsche and/or VW, either as brands or through their other brands, had been rumoured to be considering a return, once again, to F1 after its last attempt in 1991 ended in disaster as it provided engines to the Footwork team (Arows) and never won one point.

Mosley’s woes are ongoing and there is now a legal wrangle involving News of the World, the newspaper that is credited as being the first to report on the scandal. Mosley is understood to be resisting calls (BMW and Mercedes-Benz, as well as the Automobile Association of America) for his resignation, but no one knows for sure how long the 68 year-old Briton he can hold out for.

It would be of great interest to discover who or what was behind the professional surveillance put on Mosley. Word suggests that he was forewarned that he was being followed, but took no real heed of the warnings.