“What is happening in the environment, and society, they are linked. Otherwise
you will end up with fantastic, interesting racing, which is a historic car
championship. There is a lot of interest and attraction, but if you speak
about modern sport, everything has to be modern. New technologies are
definitely encouraging manufacturers like Honda [who will supply McLaren
with engines from 2015] to return.”
Many are dubious about how 22 cars, equipped with 1.6-litre V6 turbo engines,
will sound as the lights go out in Melbourne on Sunday, including some of
the drivers, who have lamented the loss of the louder, but less
sophisticated, V8s of old.
After just a few days of the first pre-season test in Jerez, Bernie Ecclestone
described the new engines as a “farce”. Todt, for his part, said he was
“amazed” by how many laps the teams were able to complete, and that he had
anticipated far more problems.
“Bernie likes making jokes”, the 68-year-old replies with a smile. “I saw him
a few days ago, and he said, ‘At least we don’t know who is going to win the
first race’.” Pre-empting the inevitable question about Ecclestone’s
suitability to run the sport, given his forthcoming trial for bribery in
Germany, Todt adds: “At the moment, he is not guilty. At the moment, he is
acting as the commercial runner of Formula One. Has he done a good job? He
has done an outstanding job. That’s the only thing I concentrate on.”
Returning to criticism of the new engines, he continues: “There’s a lot of
emotion coming out, and you have to be very calm, very rational, and try to
assess the situation. It’s natural of human beings to criticise.”
Regardless of how the sound is eventually received, as well as a kind of
racing which will place much more emphasis on fuel economy, the idea of F1
‘going green’ seems like an empty gesture to many. This is a sport which
flies thousands of people around the world for 19 races a season, after all.
“Who said anything about being green?” Todt retorts. “We are saying that we
are making the regulations taking into consideration the evolution of
technology.
“What is the pinnacle of motorsport? It’s Formula One. So Formula One has to
take into consideration the evolution of the industry, otherwise it may not
remain the pinnacle of motorsport.”
The relentless tinkering with the rules, not to mention the addition of double
points for the final race of this season, can leave the feeling that F1 is
artificially being given injections of adrenalin, with more and more doses
required. Todt says, on the contrary, that double points is “100 per cent
not destroying Formula One”, and instead encourages the rule’s critics to
“make a proposal”.
He adds: “People are never happy. If every two weeks you go to see a movie,
sometimes it’s great. I saw Titanic the other week, and I loved it. But
sometimes I see a movie which makes me fall asleep. It’s exactly the same
with Formula One. Sometimes it’s a great grand prix, sometimes it’s a boring
grand prix.”
Another criticism of the new regulations for the cars themselves, particularly
for an FIA president who has made such political capital out of trying to
reduce costs in Formula One, is that it might cripple the budgets of already
struggling teams. Both Christian Horner, of Red Bull, and Graeme Lowdon, of
Marussia, whose budgets are at the opposite extremes of the sport, agree
that the 2014 rules may have added as much as 25 per cent to the cost.
“I can sympathise with that,” Todt admits. But that does not change his view
that a cost cap for the teams in Formula One is essential.
His warning of the consequences of inaction is stark: “It would be completely
unrealistic to leave it like it is, because number one, a lot of teams will
die. Number two, one or two teams will spend much more money than they spend
now. It will create an ever bigger gap if we leave things as they are.”
Surprisingly given his history at Ferrari, and some of the accusations
levelled at Todt about both of his elections to the FIA presidency, he says
he hopes to achieve the cap for 2015 “with harmony, rather than acting as a
dictator”.
But he goes on to state “you don’t need unanimous agreement” for a cap;
something he is highly unlikely to get given Red Bull and now McLaren’s
vocal opposition. How will Todt get it passed then? He gives an ominous
indication of his thinking: “Sometimes Bernie says, ‘we have to be a
dictator’. Myself, I’m against dictators, unless I have to be.”
Todt was known as something of a dictator in his days at Ferrari, and it is to
the health of one of his closest allies from those days that the
conversation finally turns.
“Simply, of course I am monitoring the situation every day.” Todt has been to
visit Schumacher in Grenoble almost every week, and insists that it’s a
“private matter”. However, he remains optimistic: “I can tell you that we
still have big hopes for Michael.”
Perhaps like the new formula for 2014, Todt believes people were “too quick to
criticise” mistakes Schumacher made in his career. “He is a great guy, a
great champion, a great human being, and I only hope that he can be back
with us.”
Todt will be hoping the situation for both improves sooner rather than later.