As the FIA membership prepares to elect its first new president since 1993, itv.com/f1 columnist James Allen looks at the different approaches and policy agendas being offered by the two candidates, and highlights some of the key themes and controversies of the campaign.
Today will see the election of a new FIA president.
The role has become pretty prominent in the past five years or so, thanks to the way Max Mosley has conducted himself.
His regime has been not without controversy or confrontation, and whichever candidate wins tomorrow we are likely to see a different style of leadership at least.
Jean Todt and Ari Vatanen are well known sportsmen and are well known to each other; they worked together for Peugeot in rallying and rally raids like Paris Dakar with great success in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
But they approach the role of FIA president very differently.
Todt is seen as the continuity candidate, endorsed by both Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone.
He is the one who would carry things on as they are, albeit with some changes of emphasis, such as the introduction of an F1 commissioner to run the sport from the FIA side.
He would distance himself from the sport and take a more statesmanlike approach to the role.
Vatanen is the outsider, who feels that it is time for a complete change of culture within the FIA.
He says that recent events within Formula 1 have caused the image of the FIA and the sport to be tarnished.
The Finn, who spent 10 years as a member of the European Parliament, is modelling his campaign on Barack Obama’s successful run at the White House and his slogan is: “Our cause is noble. Together we can.”
“Me and my team believe that we have more than half of the votes. We are giving people hope and they are grasping it,” he says.
“The majority of clubs feel the need for a new FIA, more democratic, which takes care of everyone’s problems.
“Todt is tied to people who’ve been in power for many years like Mosley and Ecclestone; they don’t represent the future. I’m the only one who represents change.
“The FIA president should serve everyone, not just the people who have vested interests.
“This is what people are calling for and that’s what they’ll get if they elect me.
“Todt has the support of Ecclestone: but don’t you think Bernie has personal interests in the business of F1?”
Todt is standing on a ticket which emphasises ‘teamwork’ – which is what he was known for as a leader of the Ferrari F1 team during the most successful period in its history.
He has a very solid group around him and a strong roster of vice-presidents.
His policy agenda calls for the FIA to make motor sport safe and sustainable and has a strong green agenda.
He wants to use motor sport as a catalyst for a culture change in automotive technology.
He has devoted considerable effort along with his wife, the actress Michelle Yeoh, to the FIA’s Make Roads Safe campaign.
Early in the campaign Vatanen criticised Todt and Yeoh for using FIA resources dedicated to the Make Roads Safe campaign for his own presidential campaign.
Vatanen claimed that private planes were involved but this turned out not to be the case.
One of the key moments along the way was the decision of Prince Feisal of Jordan to back Vatanen, which changed the dynamic of the Middle East regional vote, an important constituency.
Mosley wrote to Feisal earlier this month, saying that support for Vatanen threatened the unity of the FIA and predicting that the Finn would “lose and lose badly” in the elections. This drew widespread criticism.
Todt’s policy document is careful to push all the right buttons with FIA constituents and to calm some concerns, particularly among F1 teams and promoters.
It wants the FIA to display “greater transparency and communication” and says that “the FIA must continue to adapt and change”. There is a need to “reform our organisation and improve the governance system”.
Todt sums up his approach to his candidacy thus: “Above all we need teamwork and cooperation.
“The FIA is a highly complex organisation combining roles as both the world’s motor sport governing body and global mobility alliance.
“To realise its full potential it is clear to us that the FIA must work together as a team, with its leadership and World Councils collaborating closely with its secretariat, its global club membership and its sister organisations.”
The F1 teams are keeping very quiet on which candidate they favour.
Both candidates have had meetings with the teams. Early in the campaign Toyota’s John Howett said that the next president should be “independent”, which was taken to be a criticism of Todt and his links to Ferrari and more recently Mosley.
There is concern that Todt’s history with Ferrari might cause him to struggle to be impartial, but relations with Luca di Montezemolo were not at their most cordial when Todt left Ferrari and it cannot be assumed that he would favour Ferrari, beyond acknowledging their undoubted importance as a leading attraction of F1.
Who will win? Both sides seem confident and both claim a majority of votes.
A couple of months ago Todt looked a shoo-in. But in recent weeks you sense that Vatanen has made up ground, so it’s tough to call.