McLaren fixer rues link to son of Libyan dictator Gaddafi

By Jonathan McEvoy for the Daily Mail Updated: 22:05 EDT, 29 April 2011

Middle man: Formula Three racer Alex Waters

The racing driver at the centre of McLaren's attempts to secure £25million in sponsorship from Libya - as revealed by Sportsmail - has spoken of his mixed feelings about the deal falling through.

Alex Waters, a Formula Three racer, was alerted to Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif being  interested in motor racing by his architect uncle, Brian Waters, who was in talks about planning work in Tripoli.

Alex spoke to McLaren last year and signed a contract with the team. They then furnished him with computer-generated images of what the car Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button drive would look like with 'Visit Libya' livery to pass on to the Libyan consortium.

'My contact was through the Libyan Tourist Board,' said Waters. 'I never had any contact with Saif Gaddafi, or anyone else involved at that level.

'At the time the British government and other organisations were doing business with Libya, and it was seen as a good thing by many people.

'The deal came to nothing. I hoped it would at the time, obviously, because there was money riding on it. But, given what's gone on in the last few weeks, it's probably good that it didn't.'

No deal: McLaren did not secure the £25m sponsorship from Libya

It is believed Waters, who has raised money for children's cancer charity Clic Sargent after fighting the disease as a teenager, stood to make around £2.5million from the deal.

The 24-year-old, from Bath, has worked as a ski instructor in France and is now part of the MRF racing series in India. He will compete in a support race during the weekend of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in Delhi in October.