The FIA awards ceremony, which was held yesterday evening in Paris, was the occasion to see Max Verstappen officially lift the trophy for winning the 2021 Formula 1 title, after Mercedes officially announced it would not pursue the appeal against the results of the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Among the various emotions experienced at the Place de la Concorde, one of the most touching concerned the now former President of the International Federation, Jean Todt. The 75-year-old, whose mandate lasted uninterrupted from 2009 until December 17 of this year – the day in which the name of his successor will also be decided, with Graham Stoker and Mohammed Ben Sulayem in the role of favorites – has in the meantime been named honorary president, “in recognition of his invaluable contribution to the Federation and to sport as a whole during his presidency from 2009 to 2021”.
During the evening, the former Ferrari team principal retraced some moments of his presidency but, above all, he wanted to publicly remember the figure of Michael Schumacher. The German, who was the victim of a serious skiing accident in 2013, was the one who alongside Jean Todt won five drivers ‘titles at the wheel of Ferrari in the early 2000s, significantly contributing to the victory of six constructors’ world championships for the team from Maranello.
The French manager, who therefore wrote a historical page of the Maranello team with Michael Schumacher, began his final speech by paying homage to the Kaiser: “I want to be very sincere, I miss Michael – he admitted – because he is part of my life, he always will be, and we were able to build many things also because we suffered together, and this made us stronger. Twelve years ago every candidate was invited to have six people with him to support their election. I remember having three people with me: my wife, Michael and my son. And it’s something I’ll never forget”.
Regarding his presidency, Jean Todt added further considerations: “I am quite happy to have closed this chapter – he concluded – I have been in office for a long time, and I want to say that doing the work the way I did it was very challenging. I think it is now good that the FIA will have a new and fresh team at their disposal. I leave behind an incredible team, that will be able to continue doing their job even with the newly elected team. Of course I still have the same passion, I love car racing, and I will continue to follow them.” – concluded Jean Todt, who has been linked with a return to Scuderia Ferrari following his retirement from the presidency.
— see video above —
Leave a Reply