Jean Todt has become the new most powerful man in world motorsport after triumphing in Friday’s FIA presidential election.
The former Ferrari team boss resoundingly defeated rival candidate Ari Vatanen in a vote of the FIA’s worldwide membership, Todt achieving over two thirds of the vote in the secret ballot at the governing body’s Paris headquarters.
The 63-year-old Frenchman received 135 votes to Vatanen's 49 with 12 abstentions and succeeds long-time incumbent Max Mosley with immediate effect, Mosley having decided not to seek a fifth term of office and instead throw his weight behind Todt as his successor.
"Jean Todt has been elected President of the FIA for a four-year term by the FIA General Assembly at its annual meeting in Paris," an FIA statement said.
Although his bid was publicly backed by Mosley, Todt has stressed he has his own ideas for the governing body and is keen to bring about measured change while building on the FIA’s current strengths.
His major election pledges for Formula 1 centered on the creation of an F1 Commissioner and an independent disciplinary panel.
Confirmation of Todt's victory brings to an end Mosley eventful, and often controversial, 16-year reign at the top of international motorsport.
The Englishman had been returned to office on three occasions since first becoming FIA president in 1993 following two years as head of the governing body’s FISA arm, which at the time oversaw FIA-sanctioned racing events including F1.
As a former president Mosley will retain an honorary seat on the FIA Senate, but he has insisted he will only play a small role at the governing body from now on.
The election battle between Todt and Vatanen had become increasingly bitter in the weeks leading up to Friday's vote, with the latter having expressed concerns about Mosley's public support of Todt and the way in which the vote was to be conducted.
Vatanen, a former rally champion and MEP, had campaigned on a 'change' ticket, presenting himself as the man to transform the FIA and take it into a new, more conciliatory, era after recent well-documented rows with F1 teams
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