> Max Mosley disagreed with Alonso penalty

FIA president Max Mosley has revealed he would not have given Fernando Alonso the controversial grid penalty at Monza where the world champion was deemed to have "impeded" Felipe Massa during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.

In his latest column for F1 Racing magazine, out today, Mosley said that had it been up to him then the Renault star would not have been moved from fifth to tenth on the grid - a sanction which prompted the Spaniard to declare F1 "no longer a sport".

"Unemcumbered by the baggage of earlier decisions, I wouldn't have penalised Alonso," said Mosley.

"But then I often disagree with the stewards.

"For example, I wouldn't have given Alonso a two-second penalty for the brake-testing (and yellow-flag) episode in Hungary – I would have sent him home.

"'Brake testing' is using a car as a weapon to menace another driver – dangerous and a license-loser if you do it on the road," he explained.

"In that same weekend I wouldn't have given Schumacher a two-second penalty for overtaking under a red flag, because, arguably, on that occasion it wasn't the least dangerous.

"However, I can understand the stewards' view that red is more serious than yellow and should attract a bigger penalty."

The FIA stewards deemed that Alonso had cost Ferrari driver Massa time, perhaps even pole position, in the high-speed Parabolica corner as the Renault driver strove to get in a final qualifying run having pitted for repairs following a puncture.

The resulting penalty caused an outcry within the paddock and prompted furious responses from Alonso and team boss Flavio Briatore.

But rather than giving the conspiracy theorists more food for thought, Mosley says his new revelations are proof that the FIA plays fair.

"Fortunately perhaps, my opinion doesn't matter," he said.

"The stewards, like our court of appeal, are entirely independent.

"I hope this at least shows how ridiculous are those who suggest 'the FIA' favours this or that faction, or acts differently according to where an event is held.

"You may not always agree with the FIA – I certainly don't – but that is the price of an independent judiciary."