Stewart drops libel threat against Mosley.

Sir Jackie Stewart has confirmed that he is no longer considering pursuing Max Mosley through the courts over the embattled FIA President's remarks last year that the Scot was a 'certified half-wit' who dresses up 'as a 1930s music hall man'.

The comments were made after Stewart had described the FIA investigation into the espionage row that engulfed Formula 1 last summer as a 'witch hunt' against McLaren-Mercedes.

"Dear old Jackie, he knows nothing about sports governance," Mosley had said at the time, adding that in his opinion the former Tyrrell and BRM ace was merely a 'figure of fun' within the F1 paddock. "Because he never stops talking, he doesn't know much about anything actually. He just talks."

Many saw the personal attack as a barely concealed reference to Stewart's dyslexia, and the former three-time world champion took such offence that he consulted his lawyers over the possibility of taking legal action on the grounds of libel.

Stewart and Mosley have rarely seen eye-to-eye, coming to verbal blows on a number of key issues within the sport over the past four decades.

"Those sort of comments show him up," Stewart told the Scotland on Sunday newspaper. "They prove that he's intelligent, but not always smart.

"Once upon a time I'd have been horrified by him talking about my dyslexia, but not now. I'm a certified dyslexic, so what? So what if I can't recite the alphabet?

"I did think about suing him and was told I had a cast-iron case, but it was so petty and I didn't want to come down to his level.

"What it showed was that his decision-making, especially when he's in a rage, is worryingly faulty."

Mosley yesterday survived a vote of confidence on his ability to continue to head up international motor racing's governing body, held in the FIA Senate in Paris and prompted by the highly damaging revelations made in the News of the World just over two months ago about the 68-year-old's private life. He prevailed in the motion by 103 votes to 55, with seven abstentions [see separate story - click here].