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Jean Todt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Todt in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President ofFédération Internationale de l'Automobile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 23 October 2009 – 17 December 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Max Mosley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Mohammed Ben Sulayem | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United Nations Secretary General's Special Envoy for Road Safety | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 29 April 2015[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1946-02-25)25 February 1946 (age 79) Pierrefort, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | Nicolas Todt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | École des Cadres | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Motor racing executive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Awards | Grand Croix de la Légion d'honneur | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Jean Henri Todt[2] (French:[ʒɑ̃tɔd]; born 25 February 1946[3]) is a French motor racing executive and former rallyco-driver. He was previously director ofPeugeot Talbot Sport and thenScuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team principal, before being appointed chief executive officer ofFerrari from 2004 to 2008. From 2009 to 2021 he served as the ninth president of theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
In 1966, Todt started his career as a rally co-driver and participated in World Championship rallies until 1981 when, withGuy Fréquelin, he won the Constructors' World Rally Championship with Talbot Lotus. Under Todt's leadership,Peugeot won fourWorld Rally Championship titles (drivers and manufacturers), won theParis-Dakar Rally four times, and twice won theLe Mans 24 Hours. During his time in charge at Ferrari, their teams won 13Formula One World Championship titles (drivers and manufacturers). Also under Todt's leadership,Michael Schumacher won five consecutive World Drivers' Championships, from 2000 to 2004, and 72 of his 91 victories.
In October 2009, Todt was elected President of theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA);[4] he was re-elected in December 2013 and December 2017. Todt's most recent term as FIA President ended in December 2021. On 29 April 2015, Todt had been appointed theUnited Nations' Special Envoy for Road Safety.[5]
Jean Todt was born inPierrefort, a southernCantal village in theAuvergne region ofFrance.[6]
After high school, Todt studied at theEcole des Cadres School of Economics and Business in Paris.[7]
The young Todt was fascinated by motorsport and had special respect for drivers likeJim Clark andDan Gurney. Borrowing his parents'Mini Cooper to drive in rallies, he soon decided his greatest strength was as a co-driver. He first co-drove withGuy Chasseuil in 1966 and his talent for calculation, strategy and organisation quickly made him a sought-after navigator. By 1969, Todt was involved with world-class rally stars such asJean-Pierre Nicolas,Rauno Aaltonen,Ove Andersson,Hannu Mikkola andGuy Fréquelin. He went on to enjoy success as a co-driver with Jean-François Piot,Ove Andersson,Achim Warmbold,Jean Guichet,Hannu Mikkola, Jean-Claude Lefèbvre,Timo Mäkinen,Jean-Pierre Nicolas and Guy Fréquelin.
In 1981, as Guy Fréquelin's co-driver withTalbot, aPeugeot subsidiary, he won the manufacturers’World Rally Championship and was runner-up in the drivers' World Rally Championship. At the same time, he was increasingly moving out from his role as a co-driver by participating in the management of the team and in relations with theFIA.
He also represented the drivers in the FISA (Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile) Rally Commission from 1975 to 1981.
In 1981, Todt retired from competing as a co-driver and was appointed Director of Racing for Peugeot by CEO Jean Boillot at a time whenPSA Peugeot Citroën was experiencing major financial difficulties as well as image problems. He applied his abilities as an organiser and strategist to the creation ofPeugeot Talbot Sport, which he set up to spearhead the firm's return to competition. He was the mastermind behind thePeugeot 205 Turbo 16, Peugeot 405 Turbo 16 andPeugeot 905.
In 1984, Peugeot returned to the World Rally Championship and, in 1985 and 1986, the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Group B driven first byTimo Salonen then byJuha Kankkunen obtained back-to-back manufacturers' World Championship titles. In 1986Henri Toivonen died driving aLancia Delta S4 during theTour de Corse rally and the FIA decided to drop theGroup B class as being too fast and too dangerous.
In 1987, Todt adapted the 205 Turbo 16 tooff-road rallies with the aim of competing in the showcaseParis-Dakar Rally. He became the centre of attention in the 1989 Paris-Dakar when he tossed a coin to decide between his two driversAri Vatanen andJacky Ickx to ensure that their rivalry would not lead to one of them quitting and costing the team victory. From 1987 to 1990, he oversaw four successive victories in the Paris-Dakar with Vatanen andJuha Kankkunen. Peugeot subsequently decided to withdraw from off-road rallying and left the field open toCitroën who won the event with the Citroën ZX Rallye-Raid, based on the Peugeot 405 chassis.
In 1992, Todt won theLe Mans 24 Hours with thePeugeot 905 driven byDerek Warwick,Yannick Dalmas andMark Blundell and, in 1993, again at Le Mans, three 905 cars driven byGeoff Brabham,Christophe Bouchut andÉric Hélary achieved a 1-2-3 victory.
In 1993, at the age of 47, Todt's 12 years with Peugeot Talbot Sport came to an end. He was recruited byLuca di Montezemolo, the new CEO ofScuderia Ferrari. On 1 July of that year at theFrench Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, he started as the General Manager of the Racing Division at the head of a team of 400 technicians.
He was the first non-Italian sinceMarco Piccinini to head the Scuderia. His challenge was to lead Ferrari back to success at a time when the team was experiencing some of the worst days in its history. The Italian team was undermined by internal quarrels and a production system that was partly delocalised. The Scuderia had won no driver's championship since 1979. Todt set about restructuring the management of the Racing Division.
In 1994, barely a year after Todt took up the challenge,Gerhard Berger won theGerman Grand Prix (Ferrari's first win in four years). Even so,Michael Schumacher'sBenetton-Ford (world champion in 1994 and 1995) and theWilliams-Renault cars ofAyrton Senna,Damon Hill,Nigel Mansell andDavid Coulthard largely dominated the competition.
At the end of the 1995 season, Todt asked the German double world champion Michael Schumacher to join the Scuderia.
In 1996, after winning theSpanish Grand Prix early on the season, Schumacher won two consecutive victories in first theBelgian and then theItalian Grand Prix. Todt then hired two former Benetton managers, the designer and aerodynamics specialistRory Byrne and technical directorRoss Brawn, to replaceJohn Barnard.
In 1997 and 1998 Ferrari missed out on the world drivers' title by a few points during the final races of the season, in 1997 behindJacques Villeneuve's Williams-Renault and in 1998 and 1999 behindMika Häkkinen'sMcLaren-Mercedes, mainly because of Schumacher's early season injury at Silverstone in the British GP.
However, Todt achieved his goal of reviving Ferrari by winning the Constructors' Championship for Ferrari in 1999, despite Schumacher's injury. Starting in 2000, Schumacher would win the next five consecutive world championships through 2004, and six straight Constructors' Championships. This was the most dominant a team had ever been in Formula One, and a first in the history of the sport until Mercedes began its run of dominance from 2014 to 2020.
On 1 June 2004, Todt was appointed CEO of Ferrari in addition to his title of General Manager of the Racing Division.[8][9] In October 2006, three days after the end of the Formula One season which they had almost won again in a tight battle withRenault andFernando Alonso, and following the retirement of Michael Schumacher, Todt took up a new post as a Special Advisor for Scuderia Ferrari.
In 2007, he prepared the ground forStefano Domenicali to succeed him as head of the Scuderia on 1 January 2008. Then, on 18 March 2008, he resigned his position as Special Advisor to the Ferrari board, to be replaced byAmedeo Felisa. He nonetheless remained a member of the board of Ferrari for a further year before resigning all his functions within the Italian firm in March 2009.
In April 2009, Todt became President of "eSafety Aware!" for the promotion of smart vehicles and new safety technologies, which enabled him to improve his knowledge of the internal workings of the FIA.[10]
On 16 July 2009, he officially announced his intention of running for the Presidency of the FIA in the election that was due to take place in October. The day before, he had received the support of outgoing PresidentMax Mosley, who had decided not to stand for re-election. He was the second contender to declare, the 1981 world rally championAri Vatanen having announced his candidature just a few days earlier.[11]
On 23 October 2009, he was elected President of the FIA (for what would become his first term) gaining 135 votes in comparison to Vatanen's 49.[4] He was re-elected, unchallenged, for a second four-year term on 6 December 2013,[12] and was again re-elected, unopposed, for a third four-year term on 8 December 2017.[13] His FIA presidency ended in December 2021, with the2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix being the last race which he would attend as president. He was later succeeded byMohammed Ben Sulayem.
On 29 April 2015, Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon appointed Todt theUnited Nations Special Envoy for Road Safety.[14] The new UN Secretary-GeneralAntónio Guterres confirmed him in this role in April 2017.
Todt also devotes his time to several charitable causes. He is one of the founders and the vice-president of theInstitut du cerveau et de la moelle épinière (ICM), an institute devoted to medical research for brain and spinal cord disorders, which was set up in 2005. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of theFIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society since 2009, President of the Board of Directors of the Suu Foundation since December 2014, Tourism Ambassador for Malaysia (2009–2015) and member of the board of directors for theInternational Peace Institute (IPI) since June 2015. He has been a member of theIOC's Commission for Public Affairs and Social Development through Sport since April 2017.
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Since January 2018, he has been a board member of theBan Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens.
He also sits on the boards ofGaumont, theGroupe Lucien Barrière andEdmond de Rothschild SA.
Since 2003, Todt has been an Honorary President of the Federazione Auto Motoristica Sammarinese (FAMS) and Ambassador of the Republic ofSan Marino.
He is also an honorary member of theAutomobile Club de France and of the Polo de Paris.[15]
Fifty-four WRC competitions as co-driver with a total of four victories between 1973 and 1981:
Jean Todt has been awarded many titles and distinctions, including:
Todt has been in a relationship with Malaysian actressMichelle Yeoh since 2004.[17] In an Instagram post, former Scuderia Ferrari driverFelipe Massa revealed that Yeoh and Todt were married on 27 July 2023 in Geneva.[18] He has a son from his previous marriage,Nicolas Todt, a driver manager and former co-owner ofART Grand Prix.[19]
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| Preceded by | President of theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile 2009–2021 | Succeeded by |
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