Amidst rising concern, from teams, drivers, sponsors, race promoters, broadcasters and fans, that F1 appears to be a rudderless ship veering from one crisis to another, Jean Todt (seen here arm-wrestling Bernie Ecclestone, the current process by which most F1-related decisions are resolved) believes the answer would be for the FIA, thereby presumably him, to take full control.

In recent times, teams and drivers have argued that the committee approach to running the sport isn't working and that the sport needs one steady hand on the tiller, a dictator if you will. This, of course, is exactly how Bernie Ecclestone sees it.

However, dictators have no place in Todt's vision for the sport's future.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not a dictator," he told reporters at a media briefing in Bahrain at the weekend. "If I was a dictator then I would have imposed Q1 and Q2 as it is now, with a time change, and Q3 revert to 2015. But I've been entrusted by 250 FIA members to be the president, so I cannot allow the FIA to be sued, and we would lose.

"Normally when dictators do that, and we have examples on much more important matters than in sport, they always fail," he continued. "The time of dictators is past. We have governance, I respect the governance, and as long as I am entrusted to be president of the FIA then I will follow the governance.

"The FIA should have complete control, as the regulator and the legislator of Formula 1," he insisted. "But historically it has not been like that. It is what I have inherited. It is like that."

Like Ecclestone, who has dismissed the recent open letter from the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, as political machination by their employers, the teams, Todt is also dismissive of drivers having their say.

"With all due respect, I'm not sure if you ask them how governance works, it would be doubtful they know. Maybe I'm wrong," he said. "I can sympathise with the drivers, with them saying 'We love our sport, help us to ensure we have a healthy and transparent sport'. But unless they have very specific advisors then they don't know what is the governance.

"We must wait until the renewal of the Concorde Agreement in 2020 and decide to change the governance," he concluded. "We are in 2016, and it cannot be until 2020.

"We cannot get out of this governance unless the teams, the commercial rights holder and the FIA decide to change... then we can do it tomorrow."

Interestingly, in recent weeks, there have been growing calls for the return of Todt's predecessor, Max Mosley, the man who knew how to keep the teams, and even Ecclestone, in check. However, despite his occasional observations the Briton remains focussed on his fight for independent press regulation.

When Mosley retired, from his role as FIA president he threw his weight behind Todt’s election, some, including Pitpass, fearing that the Frenchman would merely become a puppet.

However, for the most part he has not involved himself in the sport, instead concentrating on various other causes, including road safety, in what appears to be a bid to secure a political future.

And it is during this time, as the FIA appeared to take its hand from the tiller, that F1 began to lose its direction.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by 4SQUARETYRES, 13/04/2016 15:30

"The situation has gotten so bad that Trump sounds like a good option."

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2. Posted by SideGlance, 07/04/2016 1:04

"Yes I agree FIA should rule the sport just like FIFA does, bribery and all ! Who would want an actual open and transparent ruling group who actually listened to fans, drivers and money funding groups (investors) ?

No please go the same way as FIFA, corruption is good !!"

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3. Posted by Stitch431, 06/04/2016 6:44

"what use would it be Jean? To be able to insert more ridiculous ideas like the qualifying format, cocoons instead of halos etc.? Please no! I agree with Yeyox02 and would like to see Max Mosley back too!"

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4. Posted by Yeyox02, 05/04/2016 20:30

"Jean Todt please go home and I want Mr. Max Mosley back."

Rating: Positive (4) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

5. Posted by sumpnz, 05/04/2016 17:08

"And here I thought it was just going to be the USA Presidential elections that were going full blown Ringling Bros."

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6. Posted by F One, 05/04/2016 16:55

"It can't be worse than what's happening right now."

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7. Posted by Darvi, 05/04/2016 15:33

"Is it just me or does it appear that JT and BE are in a pissing competition and don't really seem to care about the fact that they are destroying F1? How sad is that."

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8. Posted by Ro, 05/04/2016 14:48

"Its obvious by Tods's actions that the FIA SHOULD NOT HAVE FULL CONTROL. It would turn into a complete farce. The real question is, who, on Earth thought that qualifying needed changing ? At the last minute? "

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9. Posted by HappyHippyBiker, 05/04/2016 14:07

"To quote Napoleon Todt, "With all due respect, I'm not sure if you ask them how governance works, it would be doubtful they know. Maybe I'm wrong," .... This seems to be the crux of the issue - it isn't working!"

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10. Posted by Rock Doc, 05/04/2016 13:51

"The reason for the current politics now is that Bernie might not make it to 2020. When will this madness end?"

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11. Posted by Agrajag, 05/04/2016 13:32

"If it looks like a turd, smells like a turd and sticks to your shoes and carpets, then it really is shit.
Apparently only Sebastian Vettel is prepared to tell the sport's emperors this in public.
"The King is in the all together the all together the all together as naked as the day that he was born""

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12. Posted by Jonno, 05/04/2016 10:58

"The last thing we need is the return of Mosley. He worked with, not against Ecclestone when he ran the FIA. Have fans forgotten the power plays that led to the US race turning into a joke? If the FIA want to run F1, they need to have a respected and full-time organiser - and Todt isn't that person. His position has gone to his head, he appears to have visions of grandour. A bit of a Napoleon complex?

We all know the root cause of all the current problems. Bernie and CVC need to go. All sport is under the spotlight because of the corruption in Cycling, Athletics and Football, F1 could be the next to be investigated in depth."

Todt: FIA should have complete control of F1

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