The 1981 World Rally champion was Todt only counter-candidate for the FIA job, which he lost by a considerable margin. However, while the voting was kind of predictable given the huge support shown by Mosley towards the Frenchman, what was more striking about the election process was the constant attacks between Todt and Vatanen.
The reason why Vatanen's potential role within the FIA is mostly improbable is the fact that the Finn's attacks towards Todt have often been personal. In the end, Vatanen even threatened both Todt and Mosley with legal actions for influencing the voting process before the FIA elections.
Talking about the possibility of adding Vatanen – who has an extensive experience in European politics, as well as dealing with WRC-related problems – to his staff, Todt neither denied nor agreed to the idea.
“He had his list (of supporters), and I had mine. But we cannot exclude any outcome. We need competent people,” Todt was quoted as saying in an interview with Agence France-Presse.
Last Friday, Todt won the FIA elections with a crushing score of 135 votes to 49, 12 of the votes being considered invalid. He will therefore take over from 69-year old Englishman Max Mosley at the helm of the ruling body for a period of 4 years.
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