Aware that his role as Fia President would eend after 2021, Jean Todt met Ferrari president John Elkann last summer to talk about the possibility of returning to Maranello as an expert advisor (super consultant).
However, there there have never been real signs that this could really happen and especially that it could happen very quickly
As reported by Giuliano Duchessa for formu1a.uno, Jean Todt’s return to Ferrari would have been possible only with a step back from John Elkann, who is very focused and present in following the Formula 1 project and wants to be involved in making Ferrari once again able to challenge for the top positions.
The possible resounding return, after a glorious past if you think that from 1993 to 2009 Jean Todt won 14 titles (including drivers and constructors) with the Italian team, was certainly appealing for fans, who just over a week ago were in turmoil for a possible official announcement, but also for those who work within the Maranello team.
Nonetheless, as confirmed by formu1a.uno, there were some reasons why it could not be such an easy negotiation and, although discussions have been constantly taking place, there were never any signs that it could really happen.
Jean Todt – Ferrari: did the relationship between John Elkann and Mattia Binotto break down?
Mattia Binotto was not at all against this possibility, on the contrary, he would have strongly wished for it to happen. He considered Jean Todt to be an excellent addition to Ferrari which could help him, certainly more than ohn Elkann, in political and sporting matters.
Show your support for Scuderia Ferrari with official merchandise collection from Puma!
We have therefore gone from the return of Jean Todt as an opportunity that could have made the Maranello team grow, to an important setback in the relationship between the two, which has never been excellent, according to the latest and rather sensational rumors.
John Elkann is a very humoral and instinctive person. He is the one who decided, in just a few hours, to stop and crush the negotiation of Sebastian Vettel’s renewal, two seasons ago.
The Chairman, by saying no to Jean Todt, did not want to legitimize a medium-long term “direction” (Todt – Binotto).
His idea would be to focus instead on a real team principal, hence the talks with Horner (Red Bull) and Seidl (McLaren), which failed in recent months. The Briton, whose contract was expiring with Red Bull, preferred to sign a “long-term” contract extension a few weeks ago.
A solution that Mattia Binotto, obviously, could not prefer because it would have delegitimized his role as Team Principal, which would instead have been kept with the arrival of Jean Todt.
Leave a Reply