Todt refuses to rule out Ferrari advisory role

Dec.20 (GMM) Jean Todt has joined Mattia Binotto in refusing to rule out the prospect of an advisory role for the famous Frenchman at Ferrari.

At the recent 2021 finale in Abu Dhabi, team boss Binotto was asked to comment on rumours that as he steps down as long-time FIA president, Todt might consider a return to Ferrari in an advisory role.

“Todt did very well as president of the FIA and he is a person I respect a lot,” Binotto said.

“As a team, there is always a way to improve and being able to bring added value is always positive.”

Now, 75-year-old Todt, who led Ferrari through the ultra-successful Michael Schumacher era, is also not ruling out a return to Formula 1 and Maranello.

“For now there is nothing,” he told L’Equipe.

“We have to be realistic. My commitment to road safety with the United Nations is, first and foremost, the most important.

“But I don’t close the door to other opportunities, as long as they are compatible with what I already do,” Todt added.

Meanwhile, Todt was asked to comment on the fate of his close friend and former Ferrari champion Michael Schumacher, who is still yet to be seen or heard from publicly since his late 2013 skiing fall.

“I miss Michael,” the Frenchman, who regularly visits the Schumacher family home, said.

“It is very hard to not be able to have him here because he is part of my life and always will be,” Todt said in Paris.

“It is also difficult in this moment, because when I became FIA president, there were three people with me – my wife, my son, and Michael.

“And I will never forget that moment. For Michael, he has never stopped fighting and I miss him every single day.

“But he is still here. He is different, but he is here and that gives all of us his strength.”