FIA president Jean Todt has spoken out about several hot topics currently taking place in Formula 1, including declaring the possibility of the sport turning fully electric as “nonsense”.
Recently, Ross Brawn suggested it could be conceivable that the petrol engine could be a thing of the past within 10 years should changes in technology and society permit a change to electric power.
However, the Frenchman ruled it out for several reasons, chief among which is an agreement made with Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag that makes it the “exclusive” all-electric single-seater category.
“It would be nonsense to say in the coming future F1 is going to be electric, it’s not going to happen. Simply you could not do it,” Todt added.
“At the moment one of the reasons Formula E is in cities is because it would not create any interest to have Formula E on a circuit like Monza for example.
“We are talking about two different categories. It is completely misleading to compare Formula E and F1. F1 is a very well-established category, and I keep saying for me Formula E is the baby of the FIA.
“So still a lot to learn, but saying that, it’s growing very well. But comparing the two categories is just boring.”
Another topic of debate has been the Halo, after what many consider its first major role in saving a driver when Fernando Alonso flew over Charles Leclerc’s Sauber at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.
“Sometimes, the frustrating thing is that when it was done [Halo was introduced], they [the drivers] were not so much convinced,” Todt claimed.
“But in a way we respect what they do and they should respect what we try to do. We did it because we were convinced it was a good thing.
“It changed a little bit the design of the car but honestly I love racing, I love F1. I am not in shock when I see a car with the Halo.
“My concern was, do they miss some visibility because of the Halo? They [the drivers] did not have any concerns. So for me, it was obvious [to introduce it] and sooner or later we knew that something would happen.”
