Max Mosley said Tuesday he will remain president of auto racing's governing body despite calls for him to resign because of his role in a sex scandal.

He wrote to officials at his organization, acknowledging his embarrassment and asking for their support. A copy of the letter was obtained by the Associated Press.

"I have received a very large number of messages of sympathy and support ... suggesting that my private life is not relevant to my work and that I should continue in my role," Mosley wrote. "I am grateful and with your support I intend to follow this advice."

He termed the report a "wholly unwarranted invasion of my privacy and I intend to issue legal proceedings against the newspaper in the U.K. and other jurisdictions."

Max Mosley, the president of the FIA, has said that he spoke in German during a sado-masochistic orgy with five prostitutes not because he was fantasising about being a Nazi but because several of the prostitutes involved were German speakers.