Jean Todt: “Formula 1 is not in crisis”

The number one of the FIA, Jean Todt, has denied the need for Formula 1, for its survival, to be radically changed. The Frenchman's message, in a certain sense, goes against the trend with the latest feedback on the premier class of Motorsport. Formula 1 is experiencing yet another conflict phase in his existence: “My task is to look at the situation in general. Formula 1 is still the top of the automotive categories even though, no one is perfect, and small adjustments always need to be made – commented the President of the FIA ​​to the newspaper Nice Matin – Unfortunately, Formula 1 insiders are not always inclined to release a positive message".

The Frenchman admitted that cost reduction is one of the hottest but also most complex topics on which to find a point of common agreement: "The costs that we have to face in the championship are too high but it is difficult to find a solution because the negotiations they are not never simple – underlined the former Ferrari boss – One of the main problems concerns the division of prizes to the teams but the FIA ​​cannot intervene. First, at the time the Concorde Agreement was renewed, the stables they accepted the system, only now, we complain that the subdivision is not equally distributed. Similarly, I believe that the introduction of the new V6 Turbos is also considered too expensive for a Formula 1 team. It is part of a series of issues on which it is working and where, I hope soon, to find a meeting point”.

Todt was also annoyed about the fact that, with all this technology in the car, single-seaters are now easy to drive: “Personally I don't think it's that easy – he insisted – We have always maintained that there should be a common thread between road cars and racing cars and now, obviously we can't go back to manual transmission, for example. Formula 1 has always been a sort of development laboratory for new technologies and I believe that in general our sport is not doing as badly as it is. you want to paint from the outside."

The number one of the FIA, to his transalpine colleagues at Canal Plus, was quite firm on the possibility of change the rules during the season or in the short future due to the rampant dominance of Mercedes: “At Roland Garros, 9 of the last 10 editions have been won by Rafael Nadal. What does this mean, that they should change the rules too? No, it simply means that his opponents must be better than him if they want to win. It is a very similar situation to what is happening in Formula 1,” she added.

Eleonora Ottonello
@lapisinha