Todt: Teams allowed three 'no-shows'

FIA president Jean Todt has confirmed that Formula 1 teams are now allowed to miss up to three grands prix without penalty, as doubts persist over whether US F1 and Campos will be ready to start their debut seasons.


F1 impresario Bernie Ecclestone has stated on several occasions in recent months that he expects neither of the teams to be on the grid for the first race of 2010 in Bahrain on March 14 and predicted last weekend that both would ask to miss the opening three races – an option he says was now open under the terms of the latest Concorde Agreement.


Todt has now confirmed that teams would be allowed to skip three events – in any order – before they faced sanctions, which means US F1 and Campos would have the option of sitting out the first three races before joining the grid in China in mid-April should they need more time to get their teams in order.


"At the last session of the World Council the possibility of a team not participating in three races was endorsed, even if they were not consecutive races,” Todt was quoted as saying by Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport.





Although both US F1 and Campos have publicly insisted on several occasions they will be ready to take up their respective place on the grid, the Serbian-backed Stefan GP outfit has been pushing ahead with plans to join the field should either of the confirmed teams’ plans fall through and says it has already shipped equipment to Bahrain.




Todt, however, has made it clear that even one of the 13 grid places becomes available there is no guarantee the spot will be filled.




“But if a team withdraws from the entire championship, a new team will not be introduced automatically,” the Frenchman added.




“It's always up to the FIA to decide if a team meets the requirements or not."




The Frenchman’s predecessor as FIA president, Max Mosley, used much of his final year in office to try and push through his controversial budget cap idea in a bid to cut costs and entice new teams into the sport, before a deal with teams was eventually reached on the Resource Restriction agreement which sets out particular areas where cuts have to be made.




Todt has reiterated that he won’t be returning to the budget cap idea himself in future and would rather see further cost reductions achieved through the regulations.




"I'm against the budget cap, because in China for example they can do more with the investments that you make in other parts of the world,” he said.




“Savings need to be made through the rules, like for example a single aerodynamic package for the whole year.




“The cars slide more at Monaco? Perhaps we should look at the driver's ability instead!"




He stressed that future rule changes need to be made with the environment in mind, suggesting that it wasn’t good enough for F1 to simply ditch energy-storage devices such as KERS because the technology was too expensive to develop.




"I will work hard to make them [the rules] as clear as possible but I can't guarantee that there won't be problems, the engineers are clever,” Todt added.




“The future is tied to the new technologies: it's not acceptable to abandon KERS just because it's expensive, the teams need to work out a way to make it affordable.”

Jean Todt to push for 'green' technology in Formula 1

Todt wants F1 cars to use more environmentally friendly technology
Formula 1 bosses are to investigate ways of promoting the advance of environmentally friendly technology.

The idea is the brainchild of Jean Todt, who succeeded Max Mosley as president of motorsport's governing body the FIA in October.

Ex-Ferrari F1 engine boss Gilles Simon has joined the FIA to lead the project.

Todt, who revealed the plan in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, added that more needed to be done to cut costs in F1.

Todt said he regretted the decision by F1 teams to abandon the Kers energy recovery and power boost systems that were used in 2009.

The teams dropped Kers - which was only used by McLaren, Ferrari, Renault and BMW Sauber - on cost-cutting grounds.

606: DEBATE
What do you think of Todt's views?

"I am convinced that we absolutely must reflect the environment with new technologies," Todt said.

"We must adapt to our time and review fundamentally motorsport - even create new disciplines.

"After giving up on Kers, we will accomplish nothing innovative next year. I'm sorry about that. I have therefore decided to create a working group... Gilles Simon, former boss at Ferrari engines, will join the FIA in this context."

Todt's views on cost-cutting mirror those of Mosley, who was forced out of the FIA presidency after a long and bitter political battle with the F1 teams through the summer.

Mosley had wanted to introduce a budget cap of £40m, but the teams rejected that idea and have instead made big cuts by limiting spending in certain areas of research.

The teams' umbrella body, the Formula 1 Teams' Association (Fota), has pledged to continue to find ways to cut costs.


Todt says abandoning Kers was an error and that costs are too high
Major car manufacturers BMW, Honda and Toyota have all quit the sport in the last year in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Four new teams are joining the F1 grid in 2010, having lodged entries before Mosley was forced to formally abandon the budget-cap plan.

Todt added: "The F1 teams are sometimes blind and do not realise what is happening in the world. But the racing has been struck as always by the [financial] crisis.

"F1 is too expensive, and my predecessor Max Mosley made great efforts to reduce costs, but it was not enough, especially as some teams were resistant.

"I am sad that Honda, BMW and Toyota are gone, but when you spend a lot and the results are not there, it's inevitable. On the other hand, it's great that new teams will be coming in.

"But the cost-saving measures already taken are not sufficient. I am against limiting regulatory budgets but if we want to perpetuate F1 it takes a real awareness and fundamental decisions."

FOTA welcomes Jean Todt to the FIA Presidency

The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) today congratulated Jean Todt on his victory in the FIA presidential election, and welcomed him to his new position.

Speaking after the result of the election had been announced in Paris, FOTA Chairman Luca di Montezemolo said: "I would like to send my best wishes to Jean Todt in his new role, as I have always appreciated his ability, dedication and commitment. I am sure that, under his guidance, the Federation will be rejuvenated and will restore a climate open to dialogue and constructive collaboration with the teams and FOTA, thus ensuring stability of the regulations and the whole environment”.


“Formula One is about to embark on a new phase: all the stakeholders must work together with an eye to the future, to increase the credibility and interest generated by this sport, tackling the technical and environmental challenges that await it, while keeping unchanged, those characteristics that have made it one of the most popular disciplines on the world stage”.



FOTA Vice Chairman John Howett added: ”I extend my best wishes to Jean Todt as he takes on this demanding but crucial role. I am convinced that Jean Todt’s presidency represents an opportunity for all Formula One’s stakeholders to unite under his leadership and work together to strengthen our sport. FOTA is looking forward to supporting him to broaden the appeal of our sport among fans and sponsors while respecting Formula One’s great heritage to which he has contributed enormously.”

FIA Elects New President 23/10/2009

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.



The FIA membership voted as follows:



For Jean Todt: 135
For Ari Vatanen: 49
Abstentions/invalid votes: 12



Voting in the General Assembly was made by secret ballot. The votes were counted in private by the FIA legal department, under the supervision of scrutineers proposed by the two presidential candidates and designated by the General Assembly.



The entire voting procedure was supervised by an external Huissier de Justice (French state-appointed public witness).



The following were also elected as part of Mr Todt’s candidacy list:



President of the Senate
Nick Craw, President, Automobile Competition Committee for the US (USA)



Deputy President Automobile Mobility & Tourism
Brian Gibbons, Chief Executive, New Zealand Automobile Association (New Zealand)


Deputy President Sport
Graham Stoker, Council Chairman, Motor Sports Association (UK)


Senate Members

Hernan Gallegos Banderas, President, Automovil Club del Ecuador (Ecuador)

HH Tunku Mudzaffar bin Tunku Mustapha, Chairman, Automobile Association of Malaysia (Malaysia)

S.H. Rudolf Graf von der Schulenburg, President, Automobilclub von Deutschland (Germany)

Carlos Slim Domit, Patron, Asociación Mexicana Automovilistica (Mexico)

Jainchang Yan, Deputy President, Federation of Automobile Sports of China (China)



Mobility Vice Presidents

Carlos Barbosa, President, Automovel Club de Portugal (Portugal)

Victor Dumot, President, Touring and Automobile Club of Paraguay (Paraguay)

Ignacio Gonzalez Fausto, President, Asociación Mexicana Automovilistica (Mexico)

Gus Lagman, President, Automobile Association Philippines (Philippines)

Franco Lucchesi, Delegate to the FIA, Automobile Club d’Italia (Italy)

Jorge Rosales, President, Automobile Club of Argentina (Argentina)

Danijel Starman, President, Avto-moto zveza Slovenije (Slovenia)



Sport Vice Presidents

José Abed, President, Organizacion Mexicana del Deporte Automovilistico Internacional (Mexico)

Michel Boeri, President, Automobile Club de Monaco (Monaco)

Morrie Chandler, Honorary President, MotorSport New Zealand (New Zealand)

Enrico Gelpi, President, Automobile Club d'Italia (Italy)

Carlos Gracia, President, Real Federación Española de Automovilismo (Spain)

Mohamed ben Sulayem, President, Automobile and Touring Club for United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Surinder Thatthi, Automobile Association of Tanzania (Tanzania)