Mosley plans Todt succession

F1 Racing has sighted a confidential letter from Mosley to all 150-plus presidents of the member clubs of the FIA General Assembly, in which he expresses his wish to split his ever-expanding work load in two - between "someone with political talent and contacts [ie, the president] and someone with the necessary in-depth knowledge to run motorsport [ie, the deputy president]".

Mosley's letter continues: "Should you agree to it, there would be, of course, no reason why the deputy president should not later be elected president, in turn leaving the sport to a new deputy president."

Certainly, Todt has the in-depth motorsporting knowledge required - and when, in a lengthy interview (also in the July issue of F1 Racing), the magazine's editor in chief Matt Bishop pressed Mosley about his hopes for Todt, Max replied: "Todt has worked and won in every major branch of motorsport. I think he's the only person who's done that. After Ferrari... he might feel as I do and see the fascination of trying to make the bigger picture work. And if he did that, I think he'd be very effective. In fact, I think he'd be brilliant."

Not only does Mosley make clear his approval of Todt, but he also expressly dismisses the suitability of other likely candidates who might stand against him in the 2005 FIA elections, including Jackie Stewart.

"I'm not sure he'd know what the job entails," Mosley said of Stewart. "The fact that you're a one-time racing driver, even a very good one, probably wouldn't in itself be good enough. But I can think of a few [other former racing drivers] who have more in-depth understanding of modern motorsport, and a better appreciation of the politics of international sport."

For good measure, Mosley adds: "If for some reason [Marco] Piccinini didn't want to continue in the role of deputy president [of the FIA], and Todt wanted it, and he was no longer working for Ferrari, then it would be very foolish of me to say no."