In less than three weeks, on December 15, Jean Todt will end his mandate which saw him hold the role of President of the International Automobile Federation for twelve years. In a long interview broadcast last week by the French channel beIN sports, Jean Todt discussed many aspects, from the past to the present, retracing an important part of a career that has seen him engaged in motorsport for over fifty years. Here are some of the passages that emerged during the long interview.
Arrival in Ferrari
“Everyone told me not to go there, that it was a mission impossible, but I think this really gave me the motivation to try. It was not easy, I joined Ferrari on 1 July 1993 and we won our first Constructors ‘World Championship in 1999, so after a long time after my arrival, and the following season the first Drivers’ World Championship with Michael. And before those goals I thought many times: well, they were right, we’ll never make it.”
Behind the Michael Schumacher choice
“A few weeks after my arrival, I met Ayrton Senna during the Monza weekend in the hotel we were in, on Lake Como. I proposed him to move to Ferrari in 1995, but he was pushing for 1994. We already had two drivers under contract, Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger, we couldn’t fulfill his request, and when Ayrton asked why I explained the situation. He didn’t give up, telling me that contracts don’t count in Formula 1, but I replied that for me a contract has to be respected”
“So we offered him an agreement for 1995, but unfortunately we know what happened. I wanted a top driver, because when I joined Ferrari, the chassis managers said that we weren’t winning because of the engine, for others the problem was the chassis itself, and for others the responsibility lay with the drivers. So I said to myself, there is a variable that we can eliminate: if we take the best driver in the world, or in any case a driver already World Champion, we can eliminate this excuse. If we had had Senna, no one would have been able to point the finger at the driver , which is why we took Michael afterwards.”
The first meeting with the young Michael
“I think the first time we met was in 1991, at Osaka airport in Japan. At that time Michael was racing for Mercedes in the Sport Prototype championship, and I was the leader of the Peugeot team. We had won the race and I remember one driver having an extremely brilliant stint and I asked who he was. I was told it was a young driver named Schumacher. When he arrived at Ferrari there was an immediate feeling, we had the same ambition, the same approach to work and commitment. And then we realized that we needed each other, we have often had difficult moments, difficult trials to face, but we have always remained very united. Outside of work, since he doesn’t like to lose and neither do I, if we played backgammon or any other game, sometimes there was a bit of tension, but it was always in spaces far away from work. “
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There is no absolute greatest
“I have never considered Michael the greatest driver in history, because I think it is very difficult to make this assessment. I believe there are the best drivers for every era. Fangio was the best driver of his time, the same goes for Michael and today we can say that Hamilton is the best driver of his time. But there was also Jim Clark, undoubtedly the best driver of his time. In every decade, or a little more, there is a driver who has distinguished himself above all the others, then we can try to compare them by evaluating the titles won, but does it make sense? At the time of Fangio there were eight Grands Prix a year, you could change cars during the race or take your teammate’s car. The scoring system was different, almost everything was different, so I don’t think they can compare. And I think this applies to any sport “.
The Formula 1 of talents
“In Formula 1 there are 20 drivers, all extremely talented drivers. There are maybe two or three that have a little extra spark, but the big difference is the car they are given to drive. We were talking about Michael, well, when he joined Ferrari in 1996 he was a champion with two world titles, won in 1994 and 1995, but in 1996 he only won three Grands Prix, and he was far from being World Champion.”
“And there are many examples, we also saw it with Alonso when he had to drive a car that no longer allowed him to win, and we see it today. Alonso is an exceptional driver, but today he simply doesn’t have a single-seater available that can allow him to aim to win. Pierre Gasly if he drove a Mercedes or a Red Bull today, I think he would make life difficult for his opponents. Would he win a World Championship?
Farewell to the FIA
“I’m not tense. I often talk about it with people close to me and say that I am 70% happy, and probably a little sad at 30%. I have always been optimistic, and I have completed many cycles: I was navigator for 15 years, head of the Peugeot team for 12 years, team principal at Ferrari for 16 years and then FIA President for another 12 years, and it was an exciting experience.”
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