STRAIGHT TALK
Mark Gallagher on rallying to the top job at the FIA
Hannu Mikkola’s death has caused the world of motorsport to reflect on a golden age of rallying, when marshals’ whistles would be followed by the deep ululation of an Audi Quattro bursting over a crest. Long before Flying Finns graced Formula 1, rallying was in thrall to the talents of a Mikkola, Vatanen, Alen or Toivonen.
FIA President Jean Todt was one of those to post a tribute, noting that the weekend of Mikkola’s passing coincided with the Arctic Rally Finland. Forty-six years ago, Todt was co-driver for Mikkola on the original Arctic, the pair sharing a Fiat 124 Abarth. Later that year they would win the Rallye du Maroc in a Peugeot 504 Ti.
It’s worth remembering that our motorsport’s governing body is overseen not by some political bureaucrat but a man whose career CV leaves the rest of us feeling like lazy underachievers.
A decade and a half as a top flight co-driver was followed by a dozen years as boss of Peugeot Talbot Sport, during which time Todt guided the French company to myriad successes in the
World Rally Championship, Paris-dakar, Le Mans 24 Hours and World Sportscar Championship.
Then came to the move to Ferrari where he gave Maranello the heyday it never had – eight constructors’ and six drivers’ titles under the ascetic Todt, a leader who put performance before profile, aided by a cutting-edge grasp of motorsport politics.
It came as no surprise that Todt moved seamlessly into the FIA presidency in 2009, the last 12 years being marked by an altogether calmer, less controversial reign compared to predecessor Max Mosley.
It’s been good for F1, an arms-length relationship with Bernie Ecclestone being followed by an altogether warmer and more effective collaboration with Liberty Media.
This year marks Todt’s swansong as FIA President.
He has long confirmed that he has no intention to stand for a fourth term, even if his boardroom positions, ambassadorships and charitable roles outside of motorsport will likely continue. Attention will soon turn to his successor.
It’s a daunting role – one which encompasses not only the global leadership of motorsport from a technical and regulatory perspective, but a vast array of road safety, diversity, innovation and environmental sustainability initiatives.
At a time of unprecedented change in the car industry, there is much to navigate.
Forty years ago, Todt and driver Guy Fréquelin helped Talbot to win the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers in their Sunbeam Lotus. In the drivers’ standings they finished second to Ari Vatanen, co-driven by David Richards, these days Chairman of Motorsport UK and a potential presidential candidate.
Richards is renowned for his entrepreneurship, founding Prodrive in 1984 and guiding successful motorsport programmes for clients including Porsche, BMW, Subaru and Aston Martin.
He’s also been seen in F1, initially in a one-year engagement at Benetton in 1997; later as part of a management contract at BAR Honda between 2002 and 2004. There is not much in motorsport Richards has not seen or done.
Richards is 68, seven years Todt’s junior, enough for two terms in office if he has the energy to take it on.
Clearly there is something in the codrivers’ mindset that has enabled both Todt and Richards to scale the heights of international motorsport management. The attention to detail, obsessive planning, and ultimately the wherewithal to move into the driving seats of world motorsport.
2021
Williams Racing, CEO 2017-2020 Volkswagen, Managing director of R brand 2016
Mclaren Racing, CEO 2012-2016 Volkswagen, Director of motorsport 2009-2012 Ford Motor Company, Director of global performance vehicles and motorsport business development 2001-2009 Ford Motor Company, Director of special vehicle engineering/performance vehicle line 1996-2001 Sauber Petronas Engineering, Member of the managing committee (COO 1998-2001) 1989-1996 Porsche, Head of motorsport 1984-1989 BMW M Teknik, Powertrain development engineer 1979-1984 Technical University of Munich, Mechanical engineering
GP Racing: Your predecessor (Mike O’driscoll) was the CEO of Williams for seven years. What are the challenges involved in taking on a role like this in terms of learning how the organisation works?
Jost Capito: A difficult question! You have to come into an organisation without preconceptions. And when you see the team has been 10th for a couple of years now, you have to move the team forward – and believe the team has the potential to move forward. Then you get in and check what you’ve got, work with what you have got, and just improve wherever you see any opportunity for improvement.
GPR: Were you impressed by the facilities at Williams?
JC: It’s different. As you go through the areas there is a lot of fantastic infrastructure – the windtunnel is good compared with some others in the industry. There has been a recent investment in new machines, 3D printers and so on. In other areas there is room for improvement, because the team had [financial] issues in recent years. But now there is the opportunity to improve all areas and you have to do that wisely, and look at which kind of investment and which kind of improvement gives the best value.
GPR: How do you identify those areas ?
JC: Mainly it’s about talking to as many colleagues as possible, because people working in the various areas know exactly where they want to be and what they need. Then you look to combine all that, to make the individual opportunities and improvements integrate in one big improvement, so they work hand-in-hand and the various areas benefit from each other and are not working in silos.
GPR: How tricky has that been, given the social-distancing protocols brought on by the pandemic?
JC: Of course, it’s different from how it’s been before. Meeting people virtually or in video conferences,
it’s completely different to going into a design office where it’s all about the buzz and people talk to each other, giving inspiration to each other. When the design office is nearly empty, and most people are working from home, it doesn’t create this team feeling and buzz. So we really hope it gets back to normality quickly – but we’re in a competitive environment and it’s the same for the other teams. That’s why we have to live with it, make the best of it, and try to find a working style that’s the least compromising.
GPR: The new owners have said they’re keen to retain the team’s family values because that’s an integral part of the brand. How do you evolve the business in a changing environment while keeping core values like that intact?
JC: If you look at the team’s values, these are things that haven’t developed over a year or two; they’ve developed over 40 years. I think I did more than 50 one-to-one video calls with all the managers in the team, and I found a very common scheme of the core values and why they’re at Williams. This is a big strength for the team, something some others might not have. Everybody who’s working for Williams is proud to work for Williams and that’s an asset you should never underestimate.
GPR: At the team launch you said you’d been considering retiring before you took on this job. What was it that sold Williams to you?
JC: Firstly the Williams team itself. To run Williams, to help the team move up the grid, is something I could have never dreamed of when I was a boy, when I went to university and when I had my first jobs in racing.
It’s something that was so out of range that I couldn’t even dream about it. And then also, when I talked to the new owners, their approach towards how they want to develop the team, that very much made me decide against retirement. There’s no other position in Formula 1
I would have accepted besides this one.