Todt hits back at FIA successor Ben Sulayem

Former FIA president Jean Todt has said he’s not surprised to have been criticised by his successor, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and has disputed some of the claims made by the current FIA president.

Earlier this year, Ben Sulyaem claimed there were budget issues for the FIA, saying: “There was a financial issue that we didn’t know about. We had a deficit, even before the pandemic, but I’m pleased to have cleared that.”

Ben Sulayem, who replaced Todt at the end of 2021, has also said the money in question was “over $20 million” and complained the early months of his time in charge were dominated by a patent dispute over the Halo cockpit protection device which were installed onto all F1 cars during Todt’s tenure.

For the first time, Todt has replied to the comments, which he claims are false.

“When I left, there must have been more than €250 million in reserves,” Todt told L’Equipe in reference to Ben Sulayem’s comment.

“When I arrived in 2009, there were barely €40m, although the FIA had just ceded the commercial rights to F1 for 100 years a few years earlier.

“I don’t call it a deficit. When I left, the budget had been multiplied by almost three, with many new competitions and sources of income, such as Formula E, the World Endurance Championship or the Rally Raid Championship.”

Todt also clarified what the patent dispute was.

“It is true that we left one dispute unfinished when I left, the Halo trial. But it wasn’t swept under the rug. It was well documented and monitored by our services; we presented it to the senate and the world council before I left, and the current president attended this presentation.

“This was a lawsuit brought in Texas by an engineer who owned a patent that was only valid in the United States and for a short time. So when I left, there was nothing secret. And only one ongoing case, that one.

“But I wasn’t surprised, I knew who my successor was. I know the character.”

Ben Sulayem’s FIA caused a wave of headlines this month when it launched and then quickly dropped an investigation into an alleged conflict of interest between F1 Academy boss Susie Wolff and her husband Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.