FIA has to give approval to Ecclestone’s successor

The FIA has to give approval to Bernie Ecclestone’s successor as CEO of the Formula One Group, according to Jean Todt.

Todt is undecided on whether he will run for a third and final term as FIA president next year, but doing so could see him in position to negotiate the next Concorde Agreement in 2020. At the age of 85, Ecclestone may no longer be in charge by that stage and when asked if the FIA has taken any steps to prepare for an eventual change in leadership from the commercial rights holder, Todt revealed the governing body has a say in who would replace Ecclestone.

“The actual promoter has been doing an extraordinary job to develop Formula 1,” Ecclestone said. “That doesn’t mean we do always agree, but I do respect all that he has been doing. Bernie has his style, everyone does.

“There is a major shareholder – CVC – they are very strong, talented business people. The day they decide something needs to change in the management of one of their assets, I’m convinced they know what to do.

“When you see the people on the FOM board – people like Mr Brabeck [Peter Brabeck-Letmathe] the former chairman of Nestle; Mr Martin Sorrell, chairman of WPP; you know the list! All those people, they know who to handle the situation. They will make a proposal. It has to be suitable for the FIA, but I don’t have any real concerns.”

When asked to confirm the FIA has to give approval, Todt replied: “I’m not going to get into the detail of the contract, but they need to have a final agreement from the FIA, yes. We are talking with very respectable business people.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.