Jean Todt sits down with Sky Sports News' Craig Slater in an exclusive interview ahead of the F1 2018 season
Thursday 13 December 2018 15:47, UK
Does Jean Todt understand his third and final term as FIA President will define his legacy?
The pre-F1 2018 season briefing Todt held last week perhaps evidenced that. He might have held court in Paris or Geneva before a few sympathetic scribes. That he grappled with the big issues of the moment before a roomful of sceptics at the RAC club in London spoke volumes.
There was even a deadline set. Specifications for F1's engines for 2021 and beyond must be agreed this year said the President.
And Todt seemed particularly motivated when he spoke of new engine manufacturers apparently ready to supplement the current quartet - if the development price was right.
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But will it be? Ferrari want F1 and its hybrid engines to remain high-end - and the team's chairman Sergio Marchionne has threatened to use the Ferrari veto if Liberty Media persisted with proposals for simplified power units.
In London, Todt revealed he had opposed the retention of that Ferrari rules veto years before - a privilege since Enzo Ferrari's days. Did his subsequent observation that Ferrari "may leave, it's their choice, they are free" nail his colours to the mast in that discussion?
It felt like what he had come to say.
So is Todt's FIA now firmly aligned with Liberty Media and their programme of reform? Todt declared himself more than satisfied with Liberty's stewardship - indeed keen they were no longer labelled "new" owners.
He is also one of the few individuals of longstanding F1 experience I've encountered, who've professed Michael Buffer's Austin introductions an unqualified success, or "the way forward" as he put it.
But might he still prefer - if he can - to tread a middle path? He appeared open to continuing with Ferrari's historic extra payment from common revenues. Might the extension of that be traded for slightly less complex engines?
In terms of team competition, Todt talked more of "balance" rather than a model of equal franchises Liberty might be keen to cultivate. In fact, he spoke for some time about the positive history of one team dominance in other sports, even while suggesting F1's rules should work against such periods of dominance occurring.
Would his life be made much easier if Ferrari began another period of dominance like the one they enjoyed under Todt?Might that make them less stressed and more amenable at the negotiating table?
Hit play on the video at the top of the page to watch FIA President Jean Todt's interview with Craig Slater in full.
