Todt gets ‘bloody nose’ from Bernie’s man

BERNIE ECCLESTONE scored a major coup yesterday when his candidate beat the odds to be elected the new head of world motor sport.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, 60, of Dubai, became the first non-European president of the FIA, Formula One’s governing body, trouncing Graham Stoker, a 69-year-old British barrister, to succeed former Ferrari team principal Jean Todt after nearly 12 years in charge. The result in Paris was not entirely a shock — the vote was widely believed to be finely balanced — but people there described it as a ‘bloody nose’ for Todt.

Stoker was presumed to be his preferred heir, having served as the Frenchman’s deputy president since 2009.

Ben Sulayem won nearly 62 per cent of the vote, with ex-F1 chief Ecclestone’s wife, Fabiana, a 44-year-old lawyer from Brazil, elected as vice-president for South America.

Ben Sulayem will have to deal with the fallout from last week’s drivers’ title decider in Abu Dhabi — with Lewis Hamilton now set to face punishment for skipping the FIA’s season-ending gala in Paris this week.

Ben Sulayem said he had sympathy for Hamilton but added: ‘If there is any breach, there is no forgiveness on this.’