Ferrari chief: F1 cannot have dictators

Eurosport - Thu, 25 Jun 12:48:00 2009

Formula One Teams' Association president Luca di Montezemolo - the man who helped to broker the F1 peace deal with the FIA on Wednesday - has admitted that one of the key matters of importance in negotiations was that there should be "no dictator" in the sport.

FORMULA 1 Ferrari Fota Luca Cordero di Montezemolo - 0

One of the main sources of dispute between the FIA and FOTA was what has come to be seen as FIA President Max Mosley's increasingly autocratic and at times seemingly arbitrary governance of the top flight.

With the Englishman due to step down from the most powerful and influential post in international motor racing at the end of his fourth and current term in October, Ferrari President di Montezemolo admitted that he is hopeful that a similar situation will not be allowed to repeat itself in the future.

"The satisfaction is that all of our requests have been accepted," the Italian said.

"To us three things were most important - that F1 stay F1 and not become F3; that there is no dictator, but that there is a choice of rules, agreed and not imposed; and that whoever has a team is consulted and has a voice.

"Now, finally, we have stability of the regulations until 2013.

"Mosley has announced that in October he will stand down, with an irrevocable decision, and that from now on he won't get involved in F1.

"Could Mosley change his mind? He can, yes, but we won't. What has been fundamental is the unity of the teams, of the manufacturers.

"(Bernie) Ecclestone said that he fed FOTA's cards to his dogs, Mosley said that he didn't know what FOTA was, (but now) it seems to me that both of them have something different to say.

"I wish to thank all our fans, because the general public had had enough of all these changes. We hope that next year, having finally achieved stability in terms of the rules, we will see a winning Ferrari once again."

Whilst Mosley was adamant that there had been no losers in the compromise, the Scuderia nonetheless claimed victory at the end of the damaging stand-off - one that averted a manufacturer-spearheaded 'breakaway' series at literally the eleventh hour, and saw the FIA's contentious budget cap proposal scrapped in favour of a more manageable and gradual means of cost-cutting to bring spending levels back to what they had been in the early 1990s.

"The FIA World Council accepted the proposals formulated by FOTA for the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship, a championship which will be held, as suggested by FOTA, in the spirit of sporting and technological competition, with clear and fixed rules and transparent governance, handled by the F1 Commission," Ferrari said in a statement.

"The objective is to avoid continual changes decided on by one person alone and to gradually reduce costs, to get back to levels of spending similar to those of the early '90s within the next two years.

"The FOTA teams constantly promoted these objectives in the interests of motorsport and all its protagonists, first and foremost the fans."

Crash.net / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 17 of 17

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  1. NONE of the FOTA members have been reluctant to speak­ to the Media that is hardly the act of a dictator. They­ appear to be silent now about Mosleys moronic­ blathering.
    Its almost as if Montezemolo and the other­ FOTA spokesmen are completely ignoring the “Imbecile­ Max’s” frenzied ranting! : -
    Perhaps at the urging of­ the FIA and CVC???

    From Walking quiet, on Sun 28 Jun 6:43PM

  2. Luca di Montezemolo the niggest dictator in F1 and­ cheif spoilt brat dont buy a second hand car off him it­ will be stolen like all ferraris recent wins were

    From Demo, on Fri 26 Jun 1:27PM

  3. B@LL@CKS TO F1, THE FIA AND FOTA!!!!!

    From bad sales, on Fri 26 Jun 5:15AM

  4. Well said owen gayer, my thoughts exactly!

    From bad sales, on Fri 26 Jun 5:15AM

  5. Fartrari says; "no dictator is allowed...but­ shhh...we're placing one of our own on the­ inside...maybe they won't notice".

    From bad sales, on Fri 26 Jun 5:14AM

  6. Steve,
    Absolutly, totally, completely true! And the­ worst thing was, that it was done in in such a sneeky,­ underhanded way. It makes you wonder if all those­ championships Shumacher won were really won fairly.­ That is why Jean Todt would be such a horrid pick for­ head of the FIA. The sport desperatly needs fair,­ unbiased leadership.....but I think that is a bit too­ much to hope for!

    From sdcharger717, on Fri 26 Jun 12:22AM

  7. @ sdcharger717 - "F1 absolutly must have a­ "dictator". You­ cannot run a business/sport­ by commission, with each­ member demanding a special­ treatment."

    Why not, Ferrari got special­ treatment as a result!

    From Steve, on Thu 25 Jun 11:00PM

  8. Mawech,
    Sir Jackie Stewart is without a doubt the best­ person for the FIA job, for all the reasons you listed­ and alot more, but he hates Bernie and Bernie hates­ him, and that is why he will never even seriously­ consider the position. The sport would be well served­ by having the Great Scot in the drivers seat, but it is­ our loss that it will never happen. F1 is not about the­ fans, it is about stroking the huge egos that are now­ in charge.

    From Rich L, on Thu 25 Jun 6:56PM

  9. F1 absolutly must have a "dictator". You­ cannot run a business/sport by commission, with each­ member demanding a special treatment. However, that­ dictator must also be a diplomat with alot of business­ sense and a love for that particular business/sport.­ Max was NOT that person. He had the dictator part down­ quite well, but lacked everything else. F1 is still in­ dire straits (a budget cap is desperatly needed), but­ putting Jean Todt in the FIA drivers seat would be the­ same as changing the series name from Formula One to­ Ferrari One. F1 needs someone who could would agree to­ stay long enough to put the sport back on solid­ footing, but not overstay his welcome. My vote goes to­ Sir Jackie!

    From sdcharger717, on Thu 25 Jun 5:59PM

  10. What's wrong with Jackie Stewart
    He's been a­ Driver; A Champion; A Team Principle; has good­ relationships with the manufactures and the media, and­ he's a gentleman.
    He also knows what he's­ talking about

    AH!!! that's why he won't get­ the job

    From Mawech, on Thu 25 Jun 4:58PM

  11. "To us three things were most important - that F1­ stay F1 and not become F3; that there is no dictator,­ "
    Unless of course it's Luca di Montezemolo or­ some other Ferrari appointee

    From Mawech, on Thu 25 Jun 4:54PM

  12. So Ferrari is not dictating the fota donkeys ??)
    Luca­ Mussolini ;-))

    From Ape, on Thu 25 Jun 1:28PM

  13. HELLO MY LITTLE F1 BUDDIES THIS IS YOUR FRIEND­ MARINARO4 FROM CHILE, ANOTHER DICTATOR OUT AND ANOTHER­ DICTATOR IN, FERRARI'S NUMBER ONE LITTLE PUPPET,­ JEAN TODT OF COURSE. SOME MAY BE ASKING, WHO IS JEAN­ TODT, HE IS THE ONE THAT GAVE MR SCHUEY'S OLDEST­ SON FIVE WORLD TITLES OF COURSE, AND PAID HIM A FORTUNE­ AT EVERYONE'S EXPENSE HE WAS. THE NUMBER ONE CHEAT­ WAS GIVEN SEVEN CROWN'S ALL BY HIS INVESTORS HE­ WAS. NOW THE FORMER NUMBER ONE PUPPET OF FERRARI, MAD­ MAX HAS OUT LIVED HIS USEFULLNESS, HAS BEEN CUT LOOSE­ AND REPLACED BY FERRARI'S NUMBER ONE MAN. JEAN TODT­ WITH HIS STRINGS TIED STRONG, WAITING FOR HIS FIRST TUG­ HE HIS.

    From David, on Thu 25 Jun 12:41PM

  14. now that Mosley is going or his he??????? I just hope­ that the next one is more for the racing then the­ money, so the next is that old man Eccelstone , lets­ get some young blood in and get things cleaned up

    From Peter, on Thu 25 Jun 11:59AM

  15. Lets talk about your point Fergus.......after talked­ about it a little we can think about things, throw in­ some more ideas superceding the original ideas and talk­ about it some more, oh damn, where did the original­ agenda go ?? oh bugger 10 years just went by, lets talk­ about how we can avoid similar situations again.....lol

    From Phantom, on Thu 25 Jun 11:57AM

  16. So Moseley the dictator goes, to be replaced by Todt,­ who will just do as Montezemolo tells him.

    From owen gayer, on Thu 25 Jun 11:41AM

  17. I agree, but F1 does have dictators. Get real, that is­ how the whole world works. Commities rarely achieve­ anything.

    From Only Human After All, on Thu 25 Jun 11:26AM
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