LONDON — A son of world auto racing boss Max Mosley has been found dead in his London home, police and the racing federation said Wednesday.
The body of 39-year-old Alexander Mosley was found in his west London apartment Tuesday afternoon.
He died of a suspected drug overdose, a London police official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the force was not authorized to disclose details.
Max Mosley has been the president of the FIA, the international automobile federation which governs Formula One racing, since 1993.
“The FIA extends sincere condolences to the Mosley family on the sad news of the death of Alexander Mosley,” the Paris-based federation said. “Our thoughts are with Alexander’s family and friends, and we would request that the media respect the Mosley family’s privacy at this difficult time.”
Mosley called off plans to travel to this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Former Formula One team boss Eddie Jordan described Alexander Mosley as a “hugely clever and talented computer expert.”
“It’s totally tragic, he was such a bright boy,” Jordan said. “I’m devastated for them.”
Max Mosley and his wife, Jean, have another son, 37-year-old Patrick.
Max Mosley, the son of former British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, was at the center of a media frenzy last year when a tabloid newspaper reported he took part in a Nazi-themed sadomasochistic orgy with five prostitutes in London. A video of the incident was circulated on the Internet.
Mosley successfully sued the News of the World for invasion of privacy, and Britain’s High Court ruled there had been no Nazi connection to the sex session.
The episode brought calls for Mosley’s ouster as FIA president, but he won an overwhelming vote of confidence to stay on.
Mosley told the court last year that the story had devastated his family.
“I don’t think there is anything worse for a son than to see in a newspaper, particularly one like the News of the World, pictures of the kind they printed,” he said last year. “I can think of nothing more undignified or humiliating than that. If I put myself in their position — to see my father in that position, I would find it devastating.
“My family can do nothing except suffer the consequences for something they have no responsibility for.”
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