Just ignore Flavio. I'm an expert at doing so now.
Once again we find ourselves staring at another Thursday, whether that be a good or bad thing who knows! However, one good thing about Thursday is another set of Thursday Thoughts brought out by the excellent online Formula 1 community, and this weeks question over at Sidepodcast gets us wonder who will be taking over Luca Di Montezemelo from his role as FOTA President. This past week Mr Di Montezemelo has talked about how he has more than 1 job to do, and that he can’t do everything at once so the possibility of a new boss of FOTA is definitely viable. In my honest opinion, it is for the best – Di Montezemelo and new FIA President Jean Todt have a bit of a flared history between them which could be risky. That said, most of the F1 paddock probably has some kind of history with Todt! So, who are the viable options for the new President? I have a few possibilities…
Ross Brawn – This is the obvious choice to some people it seems. We all know about Ross’ Formula 1 life over the pas few decades and he has plenty of experience with dealing with problems, resolving issues and looking to push the sport forward. He always comes across as a listenable, fair guy and the last thing FOTA would need is to go tearing apart the relationship between the FIA and themselves – something that nearly caused all manners of mayhem earlier in 2009. Brawn would make a good spokesperson for a group of team principals that respect him, and he of course knows Jean Todt very well after his years at Ferrari guiding Schumacher to so much success, so he’s definitely a contendor for me.
Ron Dennis – Now, now now, hold on just a second. Don’t close the window just yet and ridicule my blog and throw tomatoes at it by me suggesting this. Whether you like Ron, or whether you think he’s just another product of his own Ronspeak, the man is a leader and can get things done. He’s a bit of a controversial figure but, much like Brawn, his history in the sport and experience with drivers and teams would make him a possible choice for a FOTA President to run things. He does have McLaren Automatives to keep an eye on though (in much the same way Luca does with Ferrari, mind you) so that could hinder his role but, despite his marmite status to some f1 fans, I’d say it’s a fair shout he could do the role.
Mario Theissen – I’d quite like to see Ned Fla- ahem, I mean Mr Theissen be given the opportunity to run FOTA. Whilst he doesn’t have a prolific history in Formula 1 in the same way that the previous options do, as BMW team principal he ws a very well liked individual and has a good knowledge and understanding in motorsport as he kept his eye over BMW’s general motorsport activities as well as Formula 1. Whereas BMW didn’t always get the success they seemed almost grasping at, Theissen constantly kept a cool head and looked for alternatives to push the team forward, and seems to enjoy being a part of the paddock such to the point where he’s put the future of the team ahead of his own job possibilities, although the man has been keeping his options open with a future in Formula 1. Whilst he’d be an outside possibility, I’d think he’d do a good job myself.
The problem with all this however is I can’t help but wonder just how united FOTA are. In the past year, Flavio Briatore (despite being a lowlife personally, he was a big part of FOTA) has been suspended until the end of mankind, John Howett has left with the end of Toyota F1, Di Montezemelo has criticised the 4 new teams are joining FOTA, they’ve tried to pull out of Formula 1, teams like Williams and Force India being suspended and we all know how they constantly found themselves battling with Max Mosley, I can’t help but wonder just how united FOTA are at times. If FOTA are to move forward and be a successful standpoint for not just the teams and the drivers but also the fans watching on, they need someone to keep them united and not someone who’s going to ignite problems to absurd levels. Whether that person is one of the choices I have brought up is another matter; these are just my thoughts and my considerations. Hopefully FOTA will get someone new to carry on the world of Mr Di Montezemelo with much success though – as Formula 1 fans we can only hope!!
