As mentioned in this article by GrandPrix.com,
The Todt candidacy will not go down well in F1 circles where he is not fondly remembered by the teams after his years at Ferrari.
One question that is being asked at the moment is whether or not the FIA will have any kind of vetting process for the candidates for the presidency, given that happened with Max Mosley and the recent spanking scandal. It remains to be seen whether the federation will look into the background of the candidates or whether this will be left to the media, as happens in most political systems these days. This is a very important point given the damage that was done by the 2008 scandal and by the FIA’s decision to support Mosley’s presidency and thus tacitly accept that what he was caught doing as being acceptable. It is imperative that the next candidate does not have skeletons in his cupboard as another such scandal could further weaken the prestige of the federation.
If Jean Todt does not win the election, you might start to thank this man:
“I’ve been with Ferrari for 14 years and there’s been a lot of controversy over the years, and I obviously know where the bodies are buried.”
Now Stepney may not come out and start a PR war against Todt, possibly backed by other people will F1 involvement, but he will leak his knowledge and secrets to other people. If to suggest the FIA needs to make sure their president is a Church-raised white-collar momma’s boy, then I would suggest that the FIA system is broken when they don’t want a leader who can handle the pressure and the situation. F1 bosses are some of the biggest sharks out there, and will break you down. Todt can handle and even lead this huge amount of politicking. It’s what he does best. He has always produced championship winning teams, why should we doubt that he can articulate and do what is best to put Formula 1 back on top of motorsports? Let’s face it, as far as competition goes – the bar isn’t set very high. So yeah, they’re still on top, but only because there aren’t many open wheel constructors that are willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars like the F1 teams do. But most of all, it gets uncomfortable when sports car wanna-be racers start saying they’re better than us now.
To those of you who still don’t understand why Todt is the best man for the job, is because this job requires you to be a cold blooded CEO with a ruling Iron fist. A “dictator”, as Bernie Ecclestone might put it. And a ruthless one at that. Which, as we see here, Jean Todt can be as cold blooded as a murderer:
Best Man for the Job
In F1 politics, Jean Todt knows how it works. When Philip Morris is splashing out $100m/year contracts, you have more than just Thank You for Smoking backroom money deals. These guys don’t play around. It’s all rigged and set up for us to milk us like the cash cow consumers we are. And the system, rules and technical regs, are broken which has caused the sport to crap out and can’t even fill 40,000 fans at an F1 race. Everyone’s up in a fuss, when we all know THEY ARE THE ONES THAT CREATED THIS SPORT INTO A DYING BUSINESS.
But nevermind that. Apparently now there is a crusade, a taking up of the cross, to put F1 back in a place where it’s able to develop technically, the fans are happy, and they can STILL milk the sport for every penny it’s worth. And for whatever reason, Jean Todt has decided he is the best person to lead this journey.
And now because of whatever his backroom board deals, involving huge wads of cash and really arrogant businessmen, and because perhaps this lifestyle had him partake in some sins, his personal life may now come to light because he hurt a couple of people’s feelings.
Give me a freaking break. I want a guy who has lived. Seen the dark side.Jean Todt if the definition of a competitive man. With a deep passion for motorsport. So strong, he forced the rulemakers to BRING HIS TEAM DOWN BECAUSE IT WAS TOO GOOD. And you’re saying to me you don’t want this man to be running my business? Well, not the business side in this case, but the rules side. The side which he knows so much about and is already fluent in the inner workings of Formula 1. The guy is a perfect fit, no doubt about it.
