But Ecclestone believes Todt has finally realised the need to upset the manufacturers in forcing through change. Ecclestone has repeatedly said one of Todt’s main failings is his desire to “keep everyone happy”.
“I think Jean is slowly but surely coming around to realising that we’ve got to pull some teeth out and we’ve got to get on and do it,” Ecclestone told Telegraph Sport. “If there’s a bit of pain, that’s how it is.”
On Mosley returning in an advisory role, Ecclestone added: “No, no, no. He’s nothing to do with Formula One anymore. He was only there because the TV people wanted to do an interview. He’s nothing to do with it. It wasn’t supposed to be fun, it was supposed to be serious, but never mind.”
Their joint appearance was mischievous to say the least. It served as a reminder as to how Ecclestone and Mosley were once able to bang heads together, even if it was incredibly unpopular among the teams. Many of their comments served as thinly-veiled criticisms of Todt.
Jean Todt has been accused of trying to please everyone
Now Formula One has the ‘Strategy Group’, made up of Ecclestone, Todt and the biggest teams, but it often struggles to agree. Ecclestone wanted the steering group set up but increasingly regrets doing so.
The absence of decisive leadership, both from Ecclestone and Todt, has been glaringly obvious in recent months, as it was in the interview appearance. Ecclestone spoke about ripping up the rulebook as if he was not Formula One’s chief executive.
With Red Bull threatening to pull its two teams out of the sport, seemingly unable to persuade anymore to supply them an engine, both Ecclestone and Todt have so far failed to broker a deal. When asked about the subject recently, Todt was quoted in the Finnish press as simply saying: “If I can help, I will help them for sure.”