FIA president Jean Todt has hit the media trail in a limited way over the past couple of weeks – particularly in Italy – and has put some interesting ideas out there. Among other things he stated that any new circuit hoping to get an FIA licence will be assessed as much for spectacle as safety. He has even suggested that circuits should be ranked by entertainment value. Todt has not had a high media profile since taking on the job a year ago, particularly on Formula 1, but lately has come out with some more comments. Speaking to La More…

This weekend has seen a PR blitz by Jean Todt as the campaign to be elected FIA president enters the final stages. The election is less than a month away and Todt has made his first visit to the F1 paddock since announcing his candidacy. Outgoing FIA president Max Mosley has already publicly endorsed him and this week belittled his rival Ari Vatanen. Also this week Bernie Ecclestone came out strongly in support of Todt. This is no surprise; it was Ecclestone who persuaded Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo to hire Todt back in 1993 when he was at Peugeot. More…

I must admit when I saw the story in the Telegraph this morning suggesting that Mercedes might be buying into the Brawn team I wasn’t sure. On the face of it, why would they need to do that, when they already have a 40% stake in McLaren? It seems all the more intriguing that they should be doing this at a time when other manufacturers like Honda and now BMW are pulling out and Toyota are dramatically reducing their spend on the sport. Who knows what Renault’s next move will be after the judgement is made on the Singapore race-fixing More…