Toro Rosso owner Berger leaps to Mosley's support

By Alan Baldwin

MONACO (Reuters) - Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger spoke out in support of Max Mosley at the Monaco Grand Prix on Thursday while the embattled motor racing chief stayed out of the limelight.

Fighting to keep his job at the helm of Formula One's governing body after a sex scandal, Mosley made a low-key visit to the paddock and held private talks with team representatives.

The race, a social highlight of the Formula One season, is the first the 68-year-old Monaco resident has attended this year but the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) has already said he will not perform official functions.

Former champions, manufacturers and automobile clubs have called for the FIA president to resign after a tabloid newspaper published details in March of his involvement in what was described as a Nazi-style sado-masochistic orgy with prostitutes.

Such sentiments were not in evidence on Thursday, however, in a news conference featuring team bosses and officials selected by the FIA.

Prompted by the official moderator to comment on Mosley's presence, Berger made clear his support for a man on friendly terms with his team's co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz, the Red Bull energy drinks billionaire.

PRIVATE THING

"I think it's an entirely private thing," he said of Mosley's behaviour.