27/09/2009
NEWS STORY
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FIA presidential hopeful Ari Vatanen has said that if elected F1 would have need to fear him such is his desire to make a clean sweep after years of misrule.
The Finn, who is in Singapore for the Grand Prix, attended a meeting of the Automobile Association of Singapore (AAS) at the legendary Raffles Hotel yesterday, while presidency rival Jean Todt, who was also invited, declined the invitation.
"F1 will totally fear me," he told the Straits Times. "They are in disarray. Just a few months ago, there was even talk of a breakaway. I want to propose a new start, to develop F1 in the next five or 10 years. We must rebuild F1 together with common sense, democracy, honesty and openness. The FIA president cannot be a divisive figure.
"The FIA is not just all about F1," he added. "There are 100 million motorists globally. F1 is just 20 people.
"F1 is the richest sport in the capital investment world, but not much money is going back to other forms of motor sport. That's wrong."