Sir Jackie Stewart has called for Max Mosley, the president of Formula One's ruling body, the FIA, to step down from his job, following a series of controversies during the current Grand Prix season.

Stewart, the 68-year-old three-times world champion, was recently described as a "certified halfwit" by Mosley, a remark which has attracted widespread condemnation from the majority of F1 followers, including Damon Hill, the last Briton to win the world drivers' championship.

"What Max said was a gross insult to one of the sport's leading figures over the last four decades," said Hill. "Not only is it bad manners, it calls into question the character and judgment of the man who represents motor sport throughout the world through the august institution of the FIA. I personally regard it as conduct most unbecoming of an FIA president."

Speaking exclusively to the Herald, Stewart launched a trenchant attack on Mosley, focusing less on personal abuse, and more on his alleged campaign against McLaren and the rookie driver, Lewis Hamilton, who leads the championship standings going into next Sunday's final GP in Brazil.

"There is an escalating awareness that he Mosley is being called into question over the proper governance of the FIA and his authority is being undermined, to an increasing degree, largely because we are in the most exciting F1 campaign there has been for years, and yet the papers are full of negative publicity.

"As far as I am concerned, it looks as if we are shooting ourselves in both feet, not with a pistol, but with a semi- automatic rifle, and the governing body is damaging the reputation of the whole sport and bringing it into disrepute.

"They are acting in self- interest and I believe there has to be greater accountability. Perhaps Max Mosley has been in the job too long. I definitely think that he should consider his position and that a new president should be head- hunted from outwith the sport, so there is no conflict of interest.

"This has nothing to do with me and Max - nor am I acting in any way, shape or form, on behalf of the McLaren team - but I honestly think that decisions are being made which are detrimental to our business and we have to accept that it is time for a change."

The Scot's words come on the back of a series of fractious incidents as Hamilton prepares to chase the points he needs to cement the title next Sunday. Before last weekend's Grand Prix of China, his driving in the previous race at Fuji in Japan was investigated, four days after the event, even though the stewards in Japan subsequently confirmed that they had no problems with Hamilton's display.

Then, on Friday, it was revealed that the FIA have appointed a watchdog to make sure that Spain's Fernando Alonso - the reigning world champion - receives the same treatment as Hamilton.

"This is absurd and I have no doubts that it is setting a very dangerous precedent for the future," declared Stewart. "Formula One is a domain in which the owners pay the drivers and recruit the mechanics to design the car, and the governing body should have no say in the internal workings of any team.

"But apart from that, it is also hypocritical. Can you imagine the FIA going to Ferrari, while Michael Schumacher was at the helm, and insisting that his No.2 Rubens Barrichello or Eddie Irvine, was accorded the same privileges and that both men had to race on an equal footing?

"It would never have happened and, for that reason, I hope that McLaren do their best for Lewis next weekend in Brazil, because the lad has responded magnificently to everything he has faced in the last few months.

"But you have to be concerned for him in the current climate: he could be taken out at the first corner and it sounds as if the FIA would do nothing about it."

As one of the most respected figures in his vocation, Stewart is simply voicing what many other racing aficionados believe: namely that if power corrupts, then the ruling governors of Grand Prix have dwelled in their posts too long. Mosley, by refusing to apologise for his asinine comments about Stewart, has demonstrated a stunning lack of judgment from the person who represents motor sport throughout the world.