Late former FIA president Max Mosley took his own life with a firearm last May, a London inquest has found.

At the time, it was thought the 81-year-old former F1 team boss and close associate of former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone had succumbed to cancer.

But Westminster Coroner's Court has in fact recorded the cause of death as suicide, with Mosley apparently deciding to end his life after being told that his life expectancy was "very limited" and he would suffer "debilitating" pain.

He left a suicide note after sharing a final meal with his wife.

"I am entirely satisfied Mr Mosley would not have undertaken this action but for the distressing and debilitating terminal lymphoma," senior coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox found.

She added that Mosley, who was FIA president between 1993 and 2009, had "explored all treatment options" for his cancer and was facing a move into palliative care.

"He has taken a shot gun from a locked cabinet at his own home for which he had a licence," said Wilcox. "He took a shotgun and loaded it with cartridges, placed it in his mouth and pulled the trigger."

All that could be read on a blood-soaked suicide note was "I feel I had no choice".

In the coroner's inquest, Mosley's family said his biggest achievement was "the promotion of road safety" and "green technology in Formula 1".

Ecclestone, ten years older than Mosley, said the Briton's death was "like losing a brother".

"He did a lot of good things not just for motorsport but also the car industry. He was very good in making sure people built cars that were safe," he said. body check tags ::