“He says he wants a rest,” Lauda said. “So it’s very simple. I think he will
not go into pension [retirement], this is clear. I think he will come back.
I don’t know if it will be with the FIA, or whatever he likes to do.
“I’m very sad about it because I wanted him to stay another year. But he says
he wants to go fishing. So I really tried hard but he stays a consultant to
me which I think is very good and important.
“Now the executive directors Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe, and Paddy especially
on the technical side, have to fill this big hole he has left. Don’t worry,
I am going to kick them like you do not believe . . . and hopefully we can
keep on going.”
Meanwhile, defeated FIA presidential candidate David Ward has criticised the
nomination of Surinder Thatthi as one of Jean Todt’s seven vice-presidents.
Thatthi has been suspended by the Kenya Motor Sport Federation since July
but now represents the South African ASN, Motorsports South Africa.
“It reveals the ugly side of the election system,” said Ward, who dropped out
of the running for Todt’s role last month as he failed to win the required
backing to progress to the final round in Paris on Friday.
“It is disturbing to see how you can hop from one regional club to another. It
is clearly against the spirit of the regulations.”
Next weekend’s Race of Champions, the annual end-of-year motorsport jamboree
that pits stars from various different series against each other, has been
cancelled because of the volatile political situation in Bangkok. The field
included Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard.