Former Ferrari team principal and former FIA president Jean Todt has revealed that he didn’t say anything to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff nor Red Bull boss Christian Horner during the 2021 season finale, despite both gentlemen having contacted the Frenchman.
The 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will forever be remembered as one of the most controversial races in the modern history of Formula 1, with Max Verstappen having claimed his first world title following two huge errors by race director at the time Michael Masi.
Masi wrongly dealt with a late Safety Car at the Yas Marina Circuit and failed to follow the rulebook in regard to ending the neutralised period, which ultimately led to complete chaos.
Wolff was left absolutely furious with Masi, with Lewis Hamilton having lost the race win and an unprecedented eighth World Championship as a result.
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The race was instantly described as “manipulated” by Hamilton, with the FIA having investigated Masi’s handling of the race as a result.
The governing body came to the decision that Masi had made a ‘human error’, which saw him removed as F1 race director.
When the race happened, Todt was still president of the FIA, a position he held from 2009 until December 2021, before being replaced by Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
The Abu Dhabi GP was actually one of the final events under Todt’s reign as FIA president; however, he wasn’t actually present in Abu Dhabi for the race.
There is nothing about that evening in the Middle East that Todt would do differently, with the Frenchman being aware that “he didn’t do anything” wrong.
“I didn’t do anything,” Todt explained to Corriere Della Sera.
“It’s not the role of the president of the FIA.”
Todt actually compared himself to FIFA president Gianni Infantino, with Todt having noted that Infantino doesn’t get involved in incidents on the field of play.
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“Referees must be autonomous, have you ever heard Infantino say “Here there was a penalty, but not here”?” said Todt.
“In the documentary [Jean Todt, la méthode] it can be seen that I am watching that race in the country house together with the crew.
“They call me, Horner and Wolff, and I answer them: “I can’t interfere, it’s the responsibility of the marshals and the race director.”