Vatanen criticizes Mosley’s position

The former world rally champion, Ari Vatanen, openly criticized the way Max Mosley is supporting candidate Jean Todt in the campaign for the FIA presidency.

The Briton announced earlier this week that he would be stepping down from his current role at the end of October. In his letter explaining the reasons for this decision, he also stated that the best man to replace him would be Todt.

Vatanen questioned the ethics of such words and believes that Todt will only be the mere representative of the old times.

« Even though I have strongly criticized the FIA, I have never personally targeted Mosley, » Vatanen said to the Spanish daily AS.

« It is not good for the leader to stay in office for a long time, and when that happens, the best thing is a radical change. And I represent this change, a new era with more freshness. »

« On the contrary, Jean Todt represents the old era, and it is not fair for Max to want to impose a new leader and use the power of the federation to support his campaign. The FIA is not a kingdom, it is a republic where leaders are chosen democratically. »

« At Ferrari, they do not want Todt as president because they believe the sport will lose credibility. The same thing would happen if Ross Brawn or Flavio Briatore ran for presidency. The president of the FIA must be a neutral person. »

Despite Vatanen’s claims about Ferrari not wanting Todt, the Italian team reportedly expressed no preference and would adopt a neutral stance on the situation.