Max Mosley took own life as terminal illness set in, court told

Daily Mirror reporting on an ongoing Westminster court case surrounding Mosley's death, wrote that the 89-year-old "was found dead with significant injuries consistent with a gunshot wound at his London home in 2021."

He was diagnosed with palliative care for lymphoma in 2019. On May 24 last year, a note was found on Mosley’s bedroom door: Do not enter, call the police.

Officers on the scene found Mosley dead, on his bed with a shotgun; the coroner testified: “It was obvious he had used the shotgun to himself and endured a life-ending injury. It’s clear he had injuries not compatible with life.”

Dr. Rasha Al-Quarainy who treated Mosley told the coroner that he "was very talkative and engaging. We were there for about 45 minutes. He was very engaged and talked through quite a lot of things.”

As for signs of suicide, Dr Al-Quarainy said: “No, none at all. On the contrary he said that he had plans to renovate their home in Gloucestershire that wasn't going to be finished until July. He was still seeking treatment possibly in the US, possibly in the UK, and some other matters he spoke to me about.

“The only thing of note was that he started on an antidepressant after our involvement with him, later in May, but I couldn’t comment on the indication for that or any of the aspects around that," the doctor explained.

The Mirror report adds that consultant hematologist Dr. Christopher McNamara, who had treated Mosley for lymphoma since October 2019, added: “He emailed me on 22 May 2021, these were questions about the management of the condition.

"He had accepted this would not be cured. He was extremely upset as his quality of life was poor and left him uncomfortable. He had expressed ideas of committing suicide to myself and other members of the team previously.

"He never expressed a plan of doing this and all he said was that the problem was his wife would not accept this,” concluded the doctor.

Mosley, along with Bernie Ecclestone, was the architect of modern F1, having wrestled it away from Jean-Marie Balestre, the autocratic FIA President that Max usurped to become the F1 governing body's chief from 1993 until 2009, with Jean Todt leading the net era until recently being succeeded by Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Founder of the March team that built cars for numerous teams, including Penske and Tyrrell, as well as Indycar and junior series such as F2 and F3, Mosley was a racing man through and through, with a his legal expertise vital to his campaign, with Ecclestone, to change the direction of F1 forever.

Mosley's racing blood pedigree was unlike many of the chiefs that have run the sport over the years, more than most he fully understood the concept of what F1 is really about and its true allure.

He said: "People are really interested in the human contest but obviously in very high-performance machines. If you have too much technology and not enough drivers, the public will start to lose interest."

And a final one to and F1 great: "I feel my task is done. I feel a sense of satisfaction."