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Todt responds to FIA successor Ben Sulayem's claims
Former FIA president Jean Todt has hit back at criticism of his regime by his successor Mohammed Ben Sulayem and claimed things have been "turned upside down" since his time in office.
Ben Sulayem was elected to the role at the head of world motorsport in December 2021 after winning the vote against Graham Stoker, after Todt stepped down from the presidency following a maximum three terms and 12 years in office.
Two years on and, in an interview with French newspaper L'Équipe, Todt said: "It's factual. Everything that was put in place during my mandate was turned upside down."
Todt took particular issue with a comments made by Ben Sulayem last year suggesting that on his arrival at the governing body he had to deal with an unexpected financial deficit and an ongoing patent case related to the Halo head protection device, which had been introduced in F1 in 2018.
Speaking last year, Ben Sulayem told Autosport: "There was a financial issue that we didn't know about. We had a deficit, even before the pandemic, but I'm pleased to have cleared that."
Todt, however, took issue with that version of events in an interview with the French newspaper
"Each year, the accounts have been largely profitable, except the last two years, marked by the Covid crisis, which could have taken away the federation if we had not succeeded in quickly building the conditions which allowed F1 to be the first international competition organized despite confinement," said Todt.
"When I left, there must have been more than 250 million euros in reserves. When I arrived in 2009, there were barely 40, although the FIA had just ceded the commercial rights to F1 for a hundred years a few years earlier. I don't call it a deficit.
"When I left, the federal budget had been multiplied by almost three, with many new competitions and sources of income, such as Formula E or the World Endurance or Rally Raid Championships. I think I have contributed to strengthening the FIA in its financial and human structure."
On the Halo case, Todt added: "It is true that we left one dispute unfinished when I left, the Halo trial. But it wasn't swept under the rug. It was well documented and monitored by our services; we presented it to the senate and the world council before I left, and the current president attended this presentation."
Asked if he was annoyed by Ben Sulayem’s comments, Todt replied: "No, it doesn't matter to me. And then it's smoke. I start from the principle that when one chapter closes, another opens and we do not allow ourselves to attack its predecessor. Whether leaving Peugeot, Ferrari or the FIA, I never said a bad word. There is no point in launching into allegations, especially when they are false."