Unable to enter politics because of his parents personal and political associations (Max’s parents were married on Joseph Goebbels’ estate with Hitler as a guest of honour, while his father, Oswald, was also leader of the British Union of Facists), Max fought to make his own way. He became a racing driver, established his own successful Formula One team, March Engineering. Then, together with Bernie Ecclestone, he wrestled control of the sport from the governing body on behalf of the constructors and turned it into the most lucrative sport in the world.

As president of the FIA, he went on to oversee vast strides in car safety on and off the track, saving an inestimable number of lives. “Max Mosley was a forerunner in making motor racing a laboratory for road safety and the environment,” notes his successor as FIA president, Jean Todt.

The documentary covers pivotal moments such as the deaths of Jim Clark, Roger Williamson and Ayrton Senna, as well as the 2005 Indianapolis tyre debacle and the McLaren ‘Spygate’ drama, about which he has some rather brutal words for Ron Dennis.

Over fifty years, Mosley achieved great things, making the family name well respected, until a hidden camera at a BDSM ‘party’ exposed his colourful sex life in the British tabloids. Some colleagues and friends turned against him. In the film, Bernie cites his decision to briefly withdraw support from his friend “of all the things I’ve done in my life, it’s the one thing that I’m ashamed of.”

Most public figures would have hidden away, but not Max, who argued his personal affairs are nobody else’s business. He sued the News of the World, and won, and was a driving force in the Leveson phone-hacking inquiry. He then went after the lawmakers to implement greater press regulation and data protection laws.

Find out more:

Related stories