Damon Hill's gently restrained and dignified call on FIA president Max Mosley to consider his position and oblige the motor racing community by resigning as quickly as possible stood last week in dramatic contrast to the MSA's mimsing, fence-sitting unwillingness to say anything critical about the most powerful man in motorsport politics.
I can only assume that Britain's national sporting authority has opted for the middle route simply because they are worried that, in the event of Mosley getting a vote of confidence at the FIA general assembly meeting on June 3, it will be pay-back time to the detriment of those clubs who have taken a robust stance against the beleaguered president.
Don't get me wrong here. I am not saying that Mosley is a vindictive individual who never forgets those who have plotted against him. But what I am saying is that, beneath that urbane gloss, Mosley is one tough and uncompromising operator who knows the rules of the game and the reality that, in a battle for survival, you sometimes find yourself rolling around the gutter in a bare-knuckle fight. A couple of times I have been on the wrong side of Max and you can take it from me, it's no laughing matter.
I'll leave you with one question. In the event of the general assembly giving him a vote of confidence, is that not just a little too close to home to represent a valid endorsement of his suitability to continue?
That, in my mind, is the real question at issue.