38 replies to this topic

[jjcale]

Clearly he is a highly competent individual - his record makes that clear ... but he has a tin ear in an era dominated by the media and social media.  Between the insensitive comments about the effect of 25 races per year on F1 related staff, the complete SNAFU he made of the Ferrari engine issue and now his invisibility at a time of crisis ... is he just past his sell by date and needs to be replaced?

 

Now, bearing in mind his amazing record in the sport, I am also conscious that he may be very effective behind the scenes and I just dont appreciate what an asset he still is to the sport ... so I am open to being educated by those with more info than me on this point. 

 

But from what I can see, he is currently letting down the side.... big time.

[Knowlesy]

If anything he has self-isolated a bit too well there, Clive.

[Requiem84]

I agree that this is the momentum to clean up the governance strcture / key players of F1.

Ferrari still receiving unfair extra money, shady deals behind closed doors, dramatic handling of corona crises..

These are all elements that dont fit in the modern transparant world. A fresh wind should step up.

[Baddoer]

You have to ask Nico Rosberg that question

[Loosenut]

You have to ask Nico Rosberg that question

Sorry for going off topic, but something occurred to me seeing his name. Nico now has a unique standing having been the team mate of both the greatest and the 2nd greatest driver of all time (even if those positions are set to switch soon) and he has beaten them both..

[Frood]

I think the trouble is that there are few other people willing to step up to the plate. When Mosley went, it was only between Todt and Ari Vatanen. The last election, Todt went unopposed. You'd think that someone else would have wanted to, but maybe the FIA thought he was doing a good enough job.

I've found his comments recently out-of-touch, but is there a likely candidate to replace him? The only person I could see possibly going for the role in the future is Alex Wurz.

[F1matt]

The FIA needs to change for any president to be able to operate effectively, the old guard needs sweeping aside. The same could be said for FIFA, UEFA, FA, BRDC, etc....

[cpbell]

He's been somewhat anonymous this past year or so, and I think the FIA has made a mess of the last few months in F1, but he always was more interested in the road safety side of things.  Indeed, I recall comments a few years back that he wanted to use his road safety legacy as a route into running for French President.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Nah, his job is to protect the FIA and himself. Anyone who saw how they handled Bianchi and some of the less public stuff would know that.

[H0R]

Compared to his predecessor he is almost invisible. But I consider this a good thing. 

[JHSingo]

Is it bad I read the topic title and immediately thought of this?

(Yes, I know, overused meme - couldn't resist! )

[Gary Davies]

Sorry for going off topic, but something occurred to me seeing his name. Nico now has a unique standing having been the team mate of both the greatest and the 2nd greatest driver of all time (even if those positions are set to switch soon) and he has beaten them both..

I can't recall him being a team mate of either Moss or Clark. 

[oli4]

I agree that this is the momentum to clean up the governance strcture / key players of F1.

Ferrari still receiving unfair extra money, shady deals behind closed doors, dramatic handling of corona crises..

These are all elements that dont fit in the modern transparant world. A fresh wind should step up.

 

Don't you have anything better to do then bash Ferrari every single day?

 

Ferrari have earned their rights get over it. No Ferrari -> No party.

[CoolBreeze]

He's been completely useless in this post. 

[7MGTEsup]

Grab your pitch forks and torches people it's time for a lynching......

[Requiem84]

Don't you have anything better to do then bash Ferrari every single day?

Ferrari have earned their rights get over it. No Ferrari -> No party.

There is no single sport in the world where a single team gets a random pre definied bonus of milions of euro’s.

It’s bizarre in the modern times frankly.

[pdac]

He's safe. You just have to look at the selection process and the possible candidates.

[Nathan]

No.  I don't think people understand the Ferrari ruling.  You can't accuse someone of cheating if you can't fully prove it.  A hunch and some tough questions doesn't cut it.  As insensitive as his comments about staffing may have been to the sensitive souls,  they were accurate and as was discussed here solvable.  When you have the head count most teams do you should be able to rotate most of the staff just like they did when there was 50,000kms/yr testing with smaller head counts.  Otherwise ya, if a job affects your work life balance you have a choice to make.  When there are 100's if not 1000's willing to take your job it obviously isn't unreasonable.

 

I'd need MUCH better reasons to have Todt step aside.

Edited by Nathan, 13 March 2020 - 13:24.

[Risil]

I'm not sure I understand what the FIA is for. Is it necessary? There is no equivalent touring-cum-sporting body in the USA, where sporting and commercial interests are much more unified.

 

So it's hard to say who should lead it.

[Thursday]

At the same time as McLaren were announcing their withdrawal from the Aus GP and no one knew if the race would take place or not, Todt tweeted (translated) 

 

thanks to @ olivier593002  and the entire Hainaut Business Club team for their welcome today in Valenciennes. I enjoyed sharing my experience with the members of this dynamic network of business leaders
 

 

 

Just when the world of motor sport needs decisive leadership and clear communication the head of the governing body is enjoying a freebie.

[Afterburner]

I thought the writing was on the wall when he said of the halo, “I don’t care what the fans think.” He could’ve at least acknowledged that it wasn’t a popular decision but the important thing was to try to do right by the drivers. The FIA under him gives off an impression of being unwilling to take accountability for anything; not a good look in my opinion.

As for available replacements? Since Roger Penske is busy, someone like Ross Brawn, Adrian Newey, or (ha) Toto Wolff comes to mind–anyone with a fairly ruthless “does it work?” filter, an eye on the big picture, and the experience/ability to get everyone focused on the same goal would be a good choice. I think this excludes most drivers.

[maximilian]

What amazing record?

[Whatisvalis]

Don't you have anything better to do then bash Ferrari every single day?

Ferrari have earned their rights get over it. No Ferrari -> No party.

Actually F1 is reaching a point where Ferrari participation is not an absolute requirement. I imagine that at the end of the 2021 regs F1 will be unrecognizable to us traditionalists.

[chrisj]

Maybe I missed something. What has he not done that he should be doing? He's not a very dynamic personality, but compared to Balestre and Mosley, I'd say he's ok.

[Nathan]

 

Just when the world of motor sport needs decisive leadership and clear communication the head of the governing body is enjoying a freebie.

 

What can the FIA do about Liberty business?? I wouldn't call flying Jean to Melbourne just to stand behind Chase something motorsports needed.  

[eibyyz]

From my view, the FIA benefits more from motorsport than vice versa.  Same for ACCUS on my side of the pond.  Just another layer of bureaucracy.  So "who comes after Todt?" is a misplaced idea.

[HP]

AFAIK he is in his last term as president of the FIA.

 

Who should become next FIA president then?

[Bleu]

I think the trouble is that there are few other people willing to step up to the plate. When Mosley went, it was only between Todt and Ari Vatanen. The last election, Todt went unopposed. You'd think that someone else would have wanted to, but maybe the FIA thought he was doing a good enough job.

I've found his comments recently out-of-touch, but is there a likely candidate to replace him? The only person I could see possibly going for the role in the future is Alex Wurz.

 

I'm not sure if it works similarly now but when Todt vs. Vatanen election took place it was mentioned that each candidate should propose members for key position and no members should be same between candidates. That ruling makes it much easier for incumbent president.

[Atreiu]

The way I see it, the championship belongs to FIA, and them alone, and they do the favour of letting others take part and try to profit. It doesn't matter if anyone pays to be able to promote or take part, it will always only be FIA's championship. So, yes, I also see the FIA as the most incompetent and the most to blame for the indecision, debacle, subsequent inevitable losses and possible social/political repercussions from everything happening over the past weeks. This GP and others should have long been unilaterally postponed/cancelled. If contracts prevent it, then it's another huge **** up the FIA should have never allowed.

 

As the head of FIA, this falls mostly on Jean Todt and in a more serious environment he'd never remain on his post as soon as there were enough stability to assure a less traumatic transition.

Edited by Atreiu, 13 March 2020 - 14:20.

[ARTGP]

At the same time as McLaren were announcing their withdrawal from the Aus GP and no one knew if the race would take place or not, Todt tweeted (translated) 

 

thanks to @ olivier593002  and the entire Hainaut Business Club team for their welcome today in Valenciennes. I enjoyed sharing my experience with the members of this dynamic network of business leaders
 

 

 

Just when the world of motor sport needs decisive leadership and clear communication the head of the governing body is enjoying a freebie.

 

 

Yeah that was so hilariously out of touch  .  Vintage old boys club.

[ArrowsLivery]

Motorsport has experienced a horrendous downturn under Todt. His presidency will go down in history as the worst ever.

[Albertino]

Motorsport has experienced a horrendous downturn under Todt. His presidency will go down in history as the worst ever.

 

Other than the indecision of the past few weeks, but horrendous downturn are you referring to? Presidents of companies are often figureheads, while the right hand individual often does all the work (or CEO). He's the face of the FIA, but does he really do anything? 

 

FIA - Governs motorsport, owns the rights to "F1 World Championship?"

Liberty - Commercial Rights Holder

[Paincake]

I agree that this is the momentum to clean up the governance strcture / key players of F1.

Ferrari still receiving unfair extra money, shady deals behind closed doors, dramatic handling of corona crises..

These are all elements that dont fit in the modern transparant world. A fresh wind should step up.

Go watch one of Peter Windsor's latest upload where even he agrees that F1 is nothing without Ferrari.

Damaging Ferrari's legacy in favour of modernizing will only add fuel to the fire, and bring us to the road of continued and excessive political correctness where racing will eventually be completely banned in the future.... we'l have our first ''drivers'' with joysticks livestreamed by 2050. Seriously, where will it end? I 

Why is it so bad that the veterans respect this legacy? Its not like the next-generation will ever understand or have the passion of the reasoning behind Ferrari's supposed ''special treatment''.

[THEWALL]

I can't recall him being a team mate of either Moss or Clark. 

Or, *insert your favorite 2 candidates for all time best*... 

[William Hunt]

it is known now that it was Jean Todt himself who was the driving force behind the 'deal' with Ferrari over their cheating from last year and he was also the person who decided to keep all the details secret

As an ex Ferrari team boss he clearly should not have come close or be involved with the handling of the situation, and it should have been transparant, since he is neither objective nor neutral.
He has to step down from his function now imho and so should Ross Brawn in his function (ex Ferrari and ex Honda and ex Mercedes), you should not have ex senior members of F1 teams in senior roles at the FIA or the F1 group, they are not neutral.

Ross Brawn is also one of the people trying to stop new small independent teams to enter the sport and that's because he worked for major manufacturers / teams and he is still defending their financial gains imho instead of looking at the intrest / health of the sport as a whole. Brawn simply has no empathy for small independent outfits because he hasn't worked for them. Even when he took over the Honda team after they withdrew his budget, as Brawn F1 team, was still fully funded by Honda before he sold to Mercedes so he was never in the position of heading a cash strapped team.

Edited by William Hunt, 13 March 2020 - 19:50.

[THEWALL]

I thought the writing was on the wall when he said of the halo, “I don’t care what the fans think.” He could’ve at least acknowledged that it wasn’t a popular decision but the important thing was to try to do right by the drivers. The FIA under him gives off an impression of being unwilling to take accountability for anything; not a good look in my opinion.

As for available replacements? Since Roger Penske is busy, someone like Ross Brawn, Adrian Newey, or (ha) Toto Wolff comes to mind–anyone with a fairly ruthless “does it work?” filter, an eye on the big picture, and the experience/ability to get everyone focused on the same goal would be a good choice. I think this excludes most drivers.

Brawn has already failed at the new regs. Toto is a mafioso and Newey is too good for politics. Maybe he'll appoint another family member as his successor? 

[THEWALL]

Actually F1 is reaching a point where Ferrari participation is not an absolute requirement. I imagine that at the end of the 2021 regs F1 will be unrecognizable to us traditionalists.

Yep, the sooner they remove the Ferrari tumor, along with all the rest of corporate interference, the better. 

[New Britain]

AFAIK he is in his last term as president of the FIA.

 

Who should become next FIA president then?

Correct. He is now 74 years old and has stated that this will be his last term as president.

 

https://drivetribe.c...BR-yDtzFWJAzTnA

 

Then again, I recall when a previous FIA president promised that he would not stand again, and then changed his mind 'in the best interests of the sport'. 

[New Britain]

it is known now that it was Jean Todt himself who was the driving force behind the 'deal' with Ferrari over their cheating from last year and he was also the person who decided to keep all the details secret

As an ex Ferrari team boss he clearly should not have come close or be involved with the handling of the situation, and it should have been transparant, since he is neither objective nor neutral.
He has to step down from his function now imho and so should Ross Brawn in his function (ex Ferrari and ex Honda and ex Mercedes), you should not have ex senior members of F1 teams in senior roles at the FIA or the F1 group, they are not neutral.

Ross Brawn is also one of the people trying to stop new small independent teams to enter the sport and that's because he worked for major manufacturers / teams and he is still defending their financial gains imho instead of looking at the intrest / health of the sport as a whole. Brawn simply has no empathy for small independent outfits because he hasn't worked for them. Even when he took over the Honda team after they withdrew his budget, as Brawn F1 team, was still fully funded by Honda before he sold to Mercedes so he was never in the position of heading a cash strapped team.

I don't know any details of what recently happened between the FIA and Ferrari, but there is no love lost between Ferrari and Todt. He left Ferrari under a dark cloud and Ferrari were quite vocal in opposing his candidacy for FIA president. I think it is less likely that the FIA agreed to the deal with Ferrari in order to do Ferrari a favour and much more likely that they agreed in order (they hoped) to protect Formula One, the FIA and  Liberty from an unwanted controversy that they had no other way of resolving.

Yes, Ross Brawn worked for big manufacturers' teams, but he also worked for March, Haas (the real Haas), Williams, Benetton, Arrows and Jaguar. I am aware of no evidence that he is opposed to small independent teams per se. He may be opposed to underfunded teams such as Caterham, HRT and Manor coming into F1, doing poorly, going bust and then laying off scores of employees, but that is not the same thing.