Scheckter has considered handing back F1 title

Jody Scheckter leads Mario Andretti and Niki Lauda in the 1977 USA Grand Prix at Long Beach. Andretti and Lauda got past a few laps from the finish and the American crowd cheered Andretti wildly. It remains today as the only USGP won by an American

(GMM) Jody Scheckter has revealed that he has considered handing back his world championship.

The 59-year-old South African, now a highly successful organic farmer, won his drivers' title for Ferrari in 1979 — an achievement not surpassed until Michael Schumacher broke through for the Italian team 21 years later.

As formula one now grapples with the teams' major fight with the FIA over budget caps and governance methods, Scheckter told the BBC that he is appalled by the sport's leadership.

"The politics that have crept into formula one, and the way that things are handled now, is very, very disappointing," said Scheckter, who won 10 races and retired after failing to defend his title in 1980.

He added: "There have been stages when I have thought 'I am going to give back my world championship' because I have felt so strongly about it.

"Some of the regulations and some of the decisions that have been made by the FIA in the last years I think have been terrible.

"I think the sport's going through a dictatorship that is going wrong, as most dictatorships go wrong sooner or later."