“I would be very surprised if Jean does not stay long-term in this role,”
Berger, who heads the FIA single-seat commission, said.
“I would be very surprised if he doesn’t [stand] and if he doesn’t succeed.”
It had been reported that the Austrian was a critic of Todt, but he claimed
his meaning had been lost in translation.
“I gave my view like usual, I am a Formula
One purist. I have a strong opinion about certain things,” he said.
“Jean Todt is 25 years a friend of mine and the reason why I do certain things
in the FIA. And I support the FIA and Jean, just to clarify this.”
Meanwhile, on the subject of the tyre supplier for next year, Todt said that
Pirelli would almost certainly be retained, despite Michelin declaring a
late interest in returning to F1.
“I understand that [all the teams] want to stay with Pirelli,” he said.
“I will go with the consensus. I am reading that I want Michelin because I am
French, but I never read that [when I was at Ferrari] I was the only one of
the top teams to stay with Bridgestone when Michelin came into the sport.
“I was still French then.”