Jean Todt’s Approval Rating III

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Are you happy with how F1 is being run by the FIA president?

Once every month at F1 Fanatic we look at how the president of the sport’s governing body, Jean Todt, is managing the championship.

Join in by casting your vote below.

FIA developments since the last approval rating

New rules

The first announcement from the FIA in February was a series of new rules for 2010.

This included the approval of the new scoring system, changes to race penalties and, most controversially, a rule forcing drivers who qualify in the top ten to start the race on the same set of tyres they set their fastest lap time on.

Read more: 2010 F1 rules published: FIA changes post-race penalties and fuel declarations

New teams

The non-appearance of US F1 and Campos (now HRT) at February testing was bad news for the FIA’s plan to bring new teams into the sport. US F1 requested to be allowed to miss some races, but the FIA wasn’t having any of it.

Later Ferrari launched a broadside against the new teams which the sports governing body has not – yet – had any reaction to.

Read more: Ferrari’s latest FIA rant attacks "Serbian vultures" and Mosley’s "holy war"

Entry list

Yesterday the FIA finally published the list of F1 teams and drivers for 2010. US F1’s name is missing from the list and so is that of Stefan GP, who lobbied to take their place but weren’t given the place.

The FIA pointed out that “it is not possible for a replacement team to be entered for the Championship at this late stage.”

Read more: US F1 officially out and no place for Stefan GP as 2010 entry list confirmed

Jean Todt’s Approval Rating: Vote here

Are you happy with how Todt is running Formula 1? What has he handled well, or badly? Are there any important issues which you think are being overlooked?

Rate his performance below and have your say in the comments.

As an F1 fan, do you approve or disapprove of the way Jean Todt is handling his job as FIA President?

  • No opinion (23%)
  • Disapprove (24%)
  • Approve (53%)

Total Voters: 1,092

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Jean Todt’s Approval Rating so far

DateApproveDisapproveNo opinion
February 201057%14%29%
January 201055%16%29%

Jean Todt’s Approval Rating

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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52 comments on “Jean Todt’s Approval Rating III”

  1. Maybe not an F1 realted question but why would someone ever go to the trouble of voting no opinion? Why dont they just not vote.

    1. I suppose it’s a bit like having a ‘no vote’ in an election. It could be used to show that while they care enough to vote they aren’t completely happy or unhappy and that more is needed or they just don’t care about the politics.

      1. Exactly, I’ve voted Approve before, but this time I’m not as happy with JT, but I certainly don’t disapprove…. so No Oponion it was.

    2. I would take ‘no opinion’ to mean the following:

      “I care enough to participate in this survey, but I’ve yet to be convinced either way.”

      Not voting would mean a total lack of opinion on / interest in the matter. ‘No opinion’ I think is slightly different.

    3. Shouldn’t your question be: “Why go to the trouble of putting a ‘no opinion’ option in the poll?”

      Q: “why would someone ever go to the trouble of voting no opinion?”

      A: because it’s there

      1. I had ‘no opinion’ the first 2 months of the year simply because there was near enough nothing to have an opinion on. Now we’re a week from the start of the season and testing has happened, he’s actually been presidenting, and there are things to have opinions on.

        1. To me still seems like standing up in a library and shouting I have nothing to say.

          1. For “No Opinion” read “I’m sitting on the fence for the moment”

      2. To be clear, I was just kind of having a bit of fun with the original post – extremes can’t be the only options.

      3. I voted no opinion because even though I do have an opinion I don’t feel reducing it to ‘approve’ or ‘disapprove’ represents it, it’s somewhere in the middle which ‘no opinion’ gets closer to!

    4. i’m no opinion. there needed to be a third option.

    5. No opinion (as I read it) really just means either “I neither approve or disapprove”, “I don’t have enough information”, or “I approve of some stuff, disapprove of some stuff, and as such have mixed feelings”.

      1. I voted no opinion because I just don’t care about the FIA or its politics. I watch F1 for the racing, not its boring politics.

    6. Really should say undecided.

      1. I voted “No Opinion” for the first two polls of the year. This time, I Approve. Everyone needs to remember that Jean Todt wasn’t the President when the new entries were decided. He really can’t be blamed the USF1 didn’t make it and that Campos (err Hispania) barely made it. The reason I voted I approve for Jean Todt is because I’m glad he didn’t give an entry to Stefan GP. I’m glad to see that the FIA are sticking to the rules. There is no point publishing a rule book if it will be changed all the time. I would like to see the full 26 car grid, but 24 this year is a HUGE inscrease on the 20 we had last year.

  2. It seems, that the Ferrari rantings and/or the handling of the new entries did not meet general approval.

    I mostly approve of the handling of this. Best to let overly emotious rants (esp. by ferrari) be and not react.
    It would however have been good to get some official information at the start of testing (when 2 teams did not show up and were not able to give a definite date for having 2 cars ready).
    The final outcome is not to bad, but he must handle te selection process and follow up for 2011 better than the last one.

  3. I know some will say it’s too early but I don’t buy that argument as it’s just looking at what he’s done so far not what he may or may not do.
    Personally, I approve and I can’t fault him for much. The FIA seems to have a more quiet approach and more business-like. Taske the Ferrari blog thing; I would have expected the FIA to tell them to shut up or whatever as F1 needs new teams but they just let Ferrari have their say and didn’t bring any pointless mud-slinging. It’s like it;s taken a step back but to focus on what’s really going on and about the racing.
    They’re following the rules and getting on with the job. There have been a few too many tweaks -and I don’t like all of them- but that probably would have been true had Ari got in.

  4. For now I approve (shock horror!).

    The new rules are, on the whole, good and well thought out and the decision to not allow Stefan GP onto the grid was a good one. They may well be able to race in 2010, but I don’t think they would be any better off than USF1 when it comes to preparing a car for 2011.

    My opinion will change if the FIA decide to declare McLaren’s rear wing illegal so close to the start of the new season.

  5. Disapprove – didn’t let Stefan GP take up the vacant spot, despite being clearly more ready for the season ahead than USF1 have ever been at any point.

    1. I think the two are seperate issues. Just because USF1 were ready doesn’t mean that it’s int he rules or should be that a team who is ready gets the spot. There is a proper process to follow.

    2. Oh yeah, also the qualifying tyres rule. Stupid.

      1. Agree I don’t like that rule

      2. Decided upon by FOTA and the F1 Commission, not Todt. So far as President he has been refreshingly non-interventionist. Apart from laying down the law on the Stefan GP issue; for that I wholeheartedly vote approve (and I never thought I’d say that about Todt).

      3. have to agree with both points ajokay

        Come on a team is waiting to go and we just fob them off…madness even if it’s the rules…

        1. Seems like they were damned if they did, and damned if they didn’t. Personally, I am happy that for once the rules are being stuck to. Whether or not the rules are good ones is another matter entirely. But so far it appears that Todt is not running the FIA like his own personal feifdom, nor have I seen (so far) any Ferrari favouritism – so I voted approve.

  6. As much as I think it’s too bad to that usable (and expensive) resources in the form of two cars owned by StefanGP will sit idly – the entry list released yesterday was the only sensible thing to do. I said Approve although I’m still waiting to see how Campos/HRT’s lack of testing will be addressed, if at all.

    1. I’m guessing by smashing their allocation of tyres in free prcatice for the Bahrain GP…

    2. I voted approve even though I wanted to see Stefan on the grid. Because like was said even though he didn’t do what we want he did what was right.

      So far todt entire governing style, his actions and the credibility he has lent to the FIA have been exemplary.

  7. The StefanGP situation has swayed me to vote Disprove. I know it isn’t entirely Todts fault but he is held responsible for FIA actions & I completely disagree with their verdict on StefanGP.

    I voted approve on the last two occasions.

  8. I think he’s doing what an FIA president should do: not appearing often. This means that he’s actually solving problems and not talking to the press about stupid decisions or opinions like Mosley…

    GO TODT!

  9. Having previously voted ‘no opinion’ and ‘approve’ I now slightly disapprove. This is mainly due to the decision over Stefan GP. People have paid to watch 26 cars race and while the FIA and FOM could have delivered, the FIA have decided to deny the fans of this, taking out a possible exiting and interesting element of the 2010 season. Of course I don’t know the full details of this story and what specifically led the FIA not to allow SGP the 13th entry, but this is an opinion poll which by its very nature is fickle so right now I disapprove (even though overall Todt is proving a worthy successor so far).

  10. I have to say, the way that FIA handled the Stefan GP pr bullies has won me over.

    I’m sure Mosley would have just rolled over for Ecclestone and gotten Stefan GP a place on the grid.

    At least Todt stood his ground and stuck to the rules.

    Good for him …

  11. So far I approve of his handling!

    I think the parts he is struggling with is the overhang from his predecessor. I can imagine for the best part his hands are tied on some of the issues, like the tyre rules and team selection.

    Its known Bridgestone want rules around tyres to get people talking (or ranting) about them, hence dubious Q3 rules. It’s got to be seen that people are talking about tyres to help generate interest for a 2011 supplier too – If nobody talks about them then makes the bargaining more difficult and in the suppliers favour.

    The team selection.. Well lets not dig that up. He has been as swift as he can be given the WMC are required for some decisions. Some minor confusion over race skipping, but clarified quickly in the end.

    All in all – thumbs up! A- Keep up the good work.

  12. I suppose the main points since the last approval rating were the top ten tyre rule and the 2010 entry list.

    The teams seemed to come up with the top ten tyre rule and the FIA just had to rubber stamp it so I can’t blame Todt for that, and if he had been the one to say no after everyone else was in agreement then it would have been the sort of thing I would have criticised Mosley for being too dictatorial, even though I don’t like the rule in question in this situation.

    As regards not letting Stefan GP on the 2010 entry list, it seems the FIA has followed their own rules so again I don’t think I can select disapprove on the basis of this even though it would be nice to have a full grid. I predict that this could lead to quite a few votes for disapprove though.

    So I think I will have to vote approve.

    1. Agree with this post, and with those who have said that the dignified silence after Ferrari’s rant was a vast improvement on what we have seen in the past from Mosley.

  13. My vote : approve
    For all the people who disapproved just because of the Stefan GP issue, I think you are unaware of how an organization of any size works, and one as big as FIA, there are procedures to be strictly adhered to. The reasoning was a bit unintelligent acc to me.

  14. Aleksandar Serbia
    4th March 2010, 11:36

    He had proved to be an elongated arm of Ferrari, i vote for non approval :(

    1. Aleksandar, I know you’re disappointed for StefanGP, but your claim that it’s Ferrari influence showing through Todt is… well, elongated.

  15. I wanted Stefan F1 to race because i hated what USF1 had or had not done (not being able to build a car let alone race it). However FIA (under John Todt) has stepped in and said no – well done. If lola or Prodrive had built a car (even thou they hadn’t been awarded a position on the grid this year) just in case another team dropped out would we all be cheering for their inclusion? There has to be a selection process (there was for this year) & Stefan F1 weren’t in it. They have to apply next year along with Prodrive, Lola & whom ever. Hopefully they can get Toyota to build them a 2011 spec car (with recalled/modified accelerator pedal).

  16. Is there only a set number of people allowed to vote before the poll closes, or is my comuter just not letting me vote?

  17. + Good decision making over the USF1/Stefan situation.
    – Gibberish about cheap F1 mixed with KERS usage….

    No opinion.

  18. Mark Hitchcock
    4th March 2010, 14:24

    No Opinion again because the bad (quali tyre rules) has balanced out the good (not reacting to Ferrari).

    The lack of a reaction (so far) to Ferrari’s ranting is a good thing, they don’t need to get into a petty war of words.
    The quali tyres rule is stupid and pointless.
    And the decision on Stefan GP, while not what I would have preferred, was probably the most sensible decision.

    Again, my No Opinion is leaning more towards Approve than Disapprove.

  19. I will withold my opnion on him till I see what his reaction will be the first time Shumi-The-Cheat does a Shumi-The-Cheat in 2010 (or Ross Brawn comes up with some “creative” interpretation of the rules). It should not take long….

  20. Eje Gustafsson
    4th March 2010, 15:39

    From what I seen so far the man done well. None of these running to the media BS. Low key, no rumor mingling and stupid comments. USF1 no unnecessary words from JT. No major comments just simply publish the grid line up without USF1, not allowing StefanGP just to fill the grid but start a new process for 2011. As leader he done well by not throwing stupid comments etc. Also no stupid or silly statements against or for Ferraris rantings (not worth responding to IMO). The qualification tire thing I’m bit uncertain on. Same as last years with the race fuel levels. You want to be 1-5 on the grid if your 8-10 your at disadvantage to 11-15. But could mean more exciting racing and a better chance for a 10+ grid position be able to move up in the field. If a quick verdict on the McLaren rear wing is provided (before Bahrain) then he will have my total support for now.

  21. I said ‘No opinion’, even though I do have an opinion the answers don’t really cover it. Generally I find it hard to form an opinion based on facts or clear actions from Todt. However if this poll was about the FIA I would definitely disapprove as I feel most would which given the results of this poll I find interesting. Keith I think you should run a similar poll for the FIA as a whole to see if people really do approve of a president of an organisation they disapprove of.

  22. Prisoner Monkeys
    4th March 2010, 21:41

    I think people are going to disapprove of Todt for not granting Stefan a grid entry, but that doesn’t mean he madde the wrong call. He evidently felt the long-term stability and credibility of the “new” FIA was more important than granting Stefanovic a place on the grid.

  23. Keith can you put the number of votes for all the elections up next to the results?

  24. Very happy with Todt. Taking a hardline stance on timewasters USF1 and troublesome on Stefan GP.

    I was sceptical about Todt being appointed initally, but he has proven himself as a worthy leader of an organisation/authority which has been heavily criticised in the last few years.

    Well done Jean, keep it up, pelase!

    1. I should add I initially voted disapprove in January, before no opinion last month, so Todt has come full circle and won my support. If only politicans could do the same.

  25. If HRT can get on the grid what’s wrong with Stefan who was really 2010 Toyota?

  26. Thierry DUBUS
    7th March 2010, 13:04

    Approve
    So far and contrary to his predecessor, Todt doesn’t act like he wants to be in people magazines at any cost. It would appear Yeoh is enough to control his egos’ needs. Low profile and sticking to the rules of the FIA not his personal thoughts and likes, isn’t this what we expect from the referee?
    And thank god might I add as the few echoes from the research they did on Stefan GP’s funding is nothing less than very murky. This could have brought the sport in major disrepute and that would have been his probable immediate downfall should these info be confirmed.
    Give him a little time to sort things out, does one realize the size of the beast, considering he’s actually still on his first day at the job. So in agreement with another comment, let’s wait and see how his (ex?) boyfriends -I hold this from a sure source- cheating and bully tactics will be dealt with…

  27. More transparency please FIA. This is not north korea…

Comments are closed.