Former Formula 1 boss Max Mosley († 81) died in May 2021. As an investigation at the Westminster Coroner’s Court in London has now revealed, Mosley shot himself in the head with a shotgun, the “Dailymail” reports. At first it was assumed that he died of cancer.
The Briton was President of the FIA, the governing body of Formula 1, for 16 years between 1993 and 2009 – he is considered the father of the premier class. Previously Mosley, son of Fascist politician Sir Oswald Mosley, was a racing driver and co-founder of Formula 1 team March.
Before the suicide, Mosley had been told he had terminal cancer (lymphoma) and only “weeks” to live.
“I am satisfied that Mr Mosley would not have committed this act had he not had end-stage lymphoma,” Chief Medical Examiner Fiona Wilcox said in the London inquest’s findings.
The night before, Mosley had one last dinner with his wife Jean, who lived a few doors down. Detective Ben Benlounes, who testified at the hearing, said: “She described him as very much in pain and not eating much.”
A day before the suicide, Mosley told his assistant Henry Alexander of his intentions: “He was sitting in a chair and seemed desperate. He spoke to me and said I had been amazing and thanked me. He said he’d had enough, he intended to kill himself.”
