Ecclestone warning after Mosley letter

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has reacted angrily to comments from embattled FIA president Max Mosley, suggesting he is ready to fight over the sport's future.

Mosley, in an attempt to shore-up his position ahead of a June 3 confidence vote following newspaper allegations about his sex life, at the weekend released a letter written to FIA members warning that if he resigned the sport's future was in jeopardy.

He was critical of CVC Capital Partners, which owns the commercial rights to F1, saying it was seeking control over the sport's regulation and the right to sell the business to anyone.

Mosley warned this meant "in effect to take over Formula One completely," something that should not be accepted.

Ecclestone told The Times of London newspaper that he and his business partners, who control CVC, hoped Mosley's letter was not about starting a fight.

"I sincerely hope that isn't a declaration of war because, if that's what the message would be, then we'll defend ourselves," Ecclestone told The Times.

"That is what anyone would do. I don't believe that's what Max wanted the letter to say. I don't want to have a war with Max. I hope he doesn't want one with me."

Ecclestone, who has mostly steered clear of the furor surrounding Mosley since the UK's News of the World tabloid reported he was in an orgy with five prostitutes involving Nazi role-playing, rejected Mosley's claims.

"This whole business is really about what was printed in the News of the World and whether this in any way damaged the FIA clubs or the FIA -- that's all.

"It's nothing to do with anything else and I don't quite know why he's come out and said these things," Ecclestone told The Times.

Mosley will be in Monaco this weekend, where he lives, to make his first appearance at a race since the story broke.

The original revelations were given added spice -- something one would have thought nigh on impossible -- at the weekend by British newspaper reports that an MI5 spy had been forced to resign after bosses discovered his wife was one of the prostitutes involved in the orgy.

Mosley has continued to stand his ground, lobbying FIA members, and denies the orgy had Nazi-overtones. He is suing the newspaper for breach of privacy.

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