Ferrari takes softer tack with Todt

Here’s a curious development for everyone to ponder.

After releasing the best F1 press release in recent memory that charged the FIA, and Max Mosley, with systematically destroying F1 team-by-team, Ferrari today has posted on its website what I assume is an excerpt from its fan magazine. And get the title: “Well Done Jean!”

The whole piece, from what I gather, focuses on Ferrari’s ridiculous success from 1996 to 2006 during the Luca – Michael – Todt years.

Just why Ferrari would choose to highlight Todt in this release, though, is the interesting part.

It is a bit long, but here it is:

Looking back on the history of Ferrari in Formula One, the years straddling the second millennium have been the richest in terms of results and World Championship successes. The explosive mixture that led to this was the coming together of three men – all different but with a single area of common ground, the desire to conquer the racing world.

The first is Luca di Montezemolo, an extrovert who exudes charm in the way he confronts problems; the second is Michael Schumacher, almost obsessive in the search for perfection; and the third is Jean Todt, strict with himself and obstinate in his methods, dedicating his life to work. The result of the work by this triumphant trio? From 1996 to 2006 Ferrari won: 89 Grand Prix victories, 76 pole positions, 70 fastest laps and 1,649 World Championship points collected on the way to winning six Constructor’s Titles and five Driver’s Championships.

At the end of March 2009 Jean Todt, Team Principal of the Scuderia Ferrari (Ferrari’s Sporting Director), then CEO and Board member, left the company. We reflect on the extraordinary story of the past 16 years.

Jean Todt arrived at Ferrari when the word victory seemed all but forgotten at Maranello. When Montezemolo returned as President in 1991 after more than 15 years away, he found a company unable to see the difficulty it was in. As well as Ferrari not winning races, the cars being produced were obsolete and the sales network was badly organised.

The new President took the situation in hand, starting with the product and radically changing the sporting management. He chose a man with a passion for cars but with no previous experience of F1, who had a great capacity for organisation and a determination to succeed.

Todt’s characteristics set him apart. He was pragmatic: ‘Todt was crazy about details,’ recalls a colleague. ‘His strength lay in paying the same attention to the small things as to the larger ones; after all, in F1 anything can stop you.’ He was dedicated to work – invariably the last to leave the office. ‘He would ask different people the same thing just to check everyone was informed.’ And he demanded complete trust and focus from his people. ‘He understood who could make the difference. He knew everyone, and he knew how to motivate by showing he was informed about everything.’

Todt’s working method set him apart. It combined toughness, strictness and keeping everyone under pressure. ‘He came up to me when it was almost midnight and advised me, in all seriousness, to put up a camp bed to sleep in the office.’ Todt was also determined to take responsibility for his and his people’s actions: ‘Todt was the shield for all of us.’ With the strength of Todt and his team – made into a lethal weapon by the 1997 arrival of Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne – results came thick and fast. A fighting machine built on skill and inspired by the President’s passion, the Todt management would be difficult to recreate in the future. ‘Todt was brilliant in institutional relationships, politics and important negotiations with sponsors,’ says Stefano Domenicali, who took on Todt’s legacy. ‘I want to wish him the best for a future still rich in professional and personal satisfaction,’ said Montezemolo at the time of Todt’s departure. ‘All these past years together, the victories but also the difficult moments, have created a bond between Jean Todt and Ferrari that will last forever.’

Amedeo Felisa, who has now assumed Todt’s role of CEO, said, ‘For rebuilding the Sporting Division, as well as the results he achieved and the managerial characteristics he has shown, Jean has made an extraordinary contribution to Ferrari.’

OK, then. What to make of that? There is a “bond between Jean Todt and Ferrari that will last forever”? Does that mean the “Red Rule” now exists in perpetuity. [Sorry, Todd, I had to go there!]

Is Ferrari just trying to play nice with the new “boss”? Maybe it is an attempt to emphasize that Max Mosley was the real culprit? It is a possible attempt to rebuild the relationship with Todt, which we all believe was frayed when he left?

Share on Facebook