Could a sporting scandal hit F1?

While delivering this year's 
annual Sid Watkins Lecture at Autosport International, FIA president Jean Todt was asked if he was confident motorsport's governing body would not be tarred with a scandal similar to those that have hit other major sports.


"Unfortunately," he said, "some global sporting organisations have been facing some problems, and I can only be sorry for them.

"Am I comfortable about the way our organisation is structured and run? Yes, I am, and I am very proud of all the people involved with it."

Critics could snigger: 'He would say that, wouldn't he?'

But even before any such cynical observation could crystallise in the minds of the audience, Todt continued: "Saying that, I feel if you are aiming for excellence then you can always try to do better.

The WTCC is among the series the FIA administers but doesn't directly manage © XPB

"I have asked a specific audit company to have a look at our organisation, and if they feel they can advise on some improvements, then I'm very happy to take them on board."

Setting aside for a moment Todt's caginess about disclosing just which organisation has been appointed to ensure this compliance - opacity trumping transparency, if you will - his response was exceedingly good news for motorsport fans across the world, who now have assurances that they need not defend their chosen sport in pubs, offices or at home.

For indeed, Todt's words ring fundamentally true: the FIA, unlike most governing bodies, leased out the commercial rights to its sporting properties, so doesn't benefit directly or indirectly from business dealings - other than by way of income from the sales of those rights. Therefore Formula One Management is majority owned by British venture fund CVC Capital Partners and now headed by CEO Bernie Ecclestone. Should there be a ticket scam, or bribery discovered, that would be a matter for FOM, not the FIA.

Under recent deals struck under Todt, the World Endurance Championship will be staged by Le Mans promoter, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, until 2017; the World Rally Championship is promoted by a consortium consisting of a German sport promoter and Red Bull Media under a five-year deal from 2013; World Touring Car Championship promotion is in the hands of a Eurosport subsidiary until December 2017.

So where FIFA, for example, promotes its own championships for its own account, the FIA merely administers its world championships, with commercial rights holders - working in conjunction with race/rally promoters - arranging calendars, ticket prices and so on. FOM (or its equivalent in other series) receives a hosting fee from race promoters, who in turn pocket their gates.


These arrangements remove the FIA far from financial dealings, leaving it to be involved only through regulatory and administrative ratification. Calendar dates are subject to valid agreements between promoters and commercial rights holders, after FIA inspectors have approved venues.

One of the first moves made by Todt after his 2013 re-election was to order a total revamp of the governing body's statutes, with various areas such as the International Tribunal and Court of Appeal procedures, judicial and disciplinary rules, and the composition and scope of the Ethics Committee coming under the microscope. The full list of changes, effective from January 1 2015, is available here.

On the doping side there is no record of any use of performance-enhancing drugs in FIA championships, simply because for every faculty the substances allegedly improve, they impair another. No racer is prepared to take that kind of risk at 200mph.

Failing a drugs test cost Enge the 2002 F3000 title © LAT

There were once vague allegations, made by a former Ferrari doctor, of "widespread cocaine use" in F1 paddocks, but a thorough investigation carried out during 2004 revealed no evidence.

The FIA reserves the right to make random visits and demand bodily fluid samples - there are reports of drivers having been woken at 5am. That alone acts as powerful deterrent to substance abuse.

True, there have been isolated instances of recreational drug use and in two cases over the past 10 years drivers were heavily punished: Tomas Enge lost the 2002 Formula 3000 title after a win was excluded following positive marijuana tests; more recently Franck Montagny received a two-year ban for using a cocaine derivative during the weekend of a Formula E race.

The reason for such seemingly harsh punishments for everyday transgressions is simple: while a 'high' athlete might stumble about without being a danger to any other individual, the potential consequences of spaced-out F1 drivers are not even worth contemplating...

Despite its clean record on performance-enhancing substances - and only a handful of cases involving 'street' drugs - the FIA, like its motorcycling equivalent the FIM, has firmly aligned itself with the World Anti-Doping Agency, and is monitored accordingly by WADA. Indeed, this FIA webpage outlines its WADA affiliation and anti-doping regulations, and includes links to banned substance smartphone apps.


So what about the money? Cricket, and more recently tennis, have been hit by betting scams, and while it is true that considerable amounts ride on each grand prix, there is no whiff of gamble-scandal in motorsport, given that every steering or pedal input is recorded and must be made available to the FIA upon request.

Schumacher was found guilty of foul play in Monaco a decade ago © LAT

Where a tennis player may 'erroneously' hit balls out and fluff services; or an athlete may stumble, all actions by drivers are logged and can be analysed for years afterwards, as happened during investigations into the Renault 'Crashgate' scandal in 2008 - which came to light 10 months after the incident in question.

In Monaco in 2006, meanwhile, Michael Schumacher's data was crucial in convicting him of deliberately sabotaging championship rival Fernando Alonso's qualifying lap by crashing at Rascasse. His subsequent relegation to the back of the grid ensured Schumacher finished fifth, as Alonso won; the difference in points was sufficient to ensure the title eventually went Fernando's way. Who would accept money from bookmakers or betting syndicates under such circumstances?

Telemetry did not exist back in the 1930s, however, hence the myths that surround the 1933 Tripoli Grand Prix staged 17 years before the inauguration of the FIA F1 World Championship.

Legend records the race as the 'Lottery Grand Prix', so vast was the cash pile riding on its outcome. Six drivers allegedly rigged the result, by way of an agreement struck between the holders of lottery tickets that corresponded to their entries, but so much confusion surrounds the race, it is virtually impossible to separate fact from fiction. The tale was first related in then-Mercedes team manager Alfred Neubauer's biography published 25 later. And Neubauer hadn't even been in Tripoli!

The definitive analysis of this race was published by H Donald Capps and can be accessed here. Whichever version you believe, such gambling would simply not be possible in contemporary F1.

All that said, F1 in particular and motorsport generally are far from squeaky clean. Who could expect that level of propriety, anyway, given the money and prestige involved? But the bottom line is that the sport's structures and technologies are so highly developed and sophisticated that attempts at cheating or doping are immediately flagged up and investigated. Nonetheless it's heartening that the FIA is not content simply to sit on its laurels.

Indeed, about the only current scandal surrounding F1 involves its disproportionate revenue structure that effectively doubles rewards for Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull Racing over their rivals, for equal results.