Jean Todt


Jean Todt is a French former rally driver who went on to become Peugeot Talbot Sport's Director and then Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team principal, before being appointed Chief Executive Officer of Ferrari from 2004 to 2008.
In October 2009, he was elected President of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, a position to which he was re-elected in December 2013 and December 2017. He will not stand for re-election in December 2021.
Under his leadership, Peugeot won 4 World Rally Championship titles, won the Paris-Dakar Rally 4 times, and twice won the Le Mans 24 Hours. During his time in charge, Ferrari won 14 Formula One World Championship titles. It is also under his leadership that Michael Schumacher won five consecutive World Drivers' Championships, from 2000 to 2004, and obtained 72 of his 91 victories.
On 29 April 2015, Todt was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations as its Special Envoy for Road Safety.
Todt has been living with the Malaysian actress and producer Michelle Yeoh since 2004. He has a son, Nicolas, born in 1977.

Life and career

Todt was born in Pierrefort, a southern Cantal village in the Auvergne region of France.
After high school, Todt studied at the Ecole des Cadres School of Economics and Business in Paris.
In 1966, he started his career as a rally co-driver and participated in World Championship rallies until 1981 when, with Guy Fréquelin, he won the Constructors' World Rally Championship with Talbot Lotus.
He also represented the drivers in the FISA Rally Commission from 1975 to 1981.

Rally co-driver from 1966 to 1981

The young Todt was fascinated by motorsport and had special respect for drivers like Jim Clark and Dan Gurney. Borrowing the parental Mini Cooper to drive in rallies, he soon decided his greatest strength was as a co-driver. He first co-drove with Guy Chasseuil in 1966 and his talent for calculation, strategy and organisation quickly made him a sought-after navigator. By 1969, Todt was involved with world-class rally stars such as Jean-Pierre Nicolas, Rauno Aaltonen, Ove Andersson, Hannu Mikkola and Guy Fréquelin. He went on to enjoy success as a co-driver with Jean-François Piot, Ove Andersson, Achim Warmbold, Jean Guichet, Hannu Mikkola, Jean-Claude Lefèbvre, Timo Mäkinen, Jean-Pierre Nicolas and Guy Fréquelin.
In 1981, as Guy Fréquelin's co-driver with Talbot, a Peugeot subsidiary, he won the manufacturers’ World Rally Championship and was runner-up in the drivers' World Rally Championship. At the same time, he was increasingly moving out from his role as a co-driver by participating in the management of the team and in relations with the FIA.

Director of Peugeot Talbot Sport from 1982 to 1993

In 1981, he retired from competing as a co-driver and was appointed Director of Racing for Peugeot by the then CEO Jean Boillot at a time when PSA Peugeot Citroën was experiencing major financial difficulties as well as image problems. He applied his abilities as an organiser and strategist to the creation of Peugeot Talbot Sport, which he set up to spearhead the French firm's return to competition. He was the mastermind behind the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, Peugeot 405 Turbo 16 and Peugeot 905.
In 1984, Peugeot returned to the World Rally Championship and, in 1985 and 1986, the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Group B driven first by Timo Salonen then by Juha Kankkunen obtained back-to-back manufacturers’ World Championship titles. In 1986 Henri Toivonen died driving a Lancia Delta S4 during the Tour de Corse rally and the FIA decided to drop the Group B class as being too fast and too dangerous.
In 1987, Todt adapted the 205 Turbo 16 to off-road rallies with the aim of competing in the showcase Paris-Dakar Rally. He became the centre of attention in the 1989 Paris-Dakar when he tossed a coin to decide between his two drivers Ari Vatanen and Jacky Ickx to ensure that their rivalry would not lead to one of them quitting and costing the team victory. From 1987 to 1990, he oversaw four successive victories in the Paris-Dakar with Vatanen and Juha Kankkunen. Peugeot subsequently decided to withdraw from off-road rallying and left the field open to Citroën who won the event with the Citroën ZX Rallye-Raid, based on the Peugeot 405 chassis.
In 1992, Todt won the Le Mans 24 Hours with the Peugeot 905 driven by Derek Warwick, Yannick Dalmas and Mark Blundell and, in 1993, again at Le Mans, three 905 cars driven by Geoff Brabham, Christophe Bouchut and Éric Hélary achieved a 1-2-3 victory.

General Manager of Scuderia Ferrari 1994 to 2007

In 1993, at the age of 47, Todt's 12 years with Peugeot Talbot Sport came to an end. He was recruited by Luca di Montezemolo, the new CEO of Scuderia Ferrari. On 1 July of that year at the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, he started in as the General Manager of the Racing Division at the head of a team of 400 technicians.
He was the first non-Italian to head the Scuderia. His challenge was to lead Ferrari back to success at a time when the team was experiencing some of the worst days in its history. The Italian team was undermined by internal quarrels and a production system that was partly delocalised. The Scuderia had won no driver's championship since 1979. Todt set about restructuring the management of the Racing Division.
In 1994, barely a year after Todt took up the challenge, Gerhard Berger won the German Grand Prix. Even so, Michael Schumacher's Benetton-Ford and the Williams-Renault cars of Ayrton Senna, Damon Hill, Nigel Mansell and David Coulthard largely dominated the competition.
At the end of the 1995 season, Todt asked the German double world champion Michael Schumacher to join the Scuderia.
In 1996, after winning the Spanish Grand Prix early on the season, Schumacher won two consecutive victories in first the Belgian and then the Italian Grand Prix. Todt then hired two former Benetton managers, the designer and aerodynamics specialist Rory Byrne and technical director Ross Brawn, to replace John Barnard.
In 1997 and 1998 Ferrari missed out on the world drivers' title by a few points during the final races of the season, in 1997 behind Jacques Villeneuve's Williams-Renault and in 1998 and 1999 behind Mika Häkkinen's McLaren-Mercedes.
Todt achieved his goal of reviving Ferrari by winning victories with Schumacher in five consecutive world championships, a first in the history of Formula One.

CEO and Special Advisor at Ferrari from 2004 to 2009

On 1 June 2004, Todt was appointed CEO of Ferrari in addition to his title of General Manager of the Racing Division. On October 2006, three days after the end of the Formula One season and following the retirement of Michael Schumacher, he took up a new post as a Special Advisor for the Scuderia Ferrari.
In 2007, he prepared the ground for Stefano Domenicali to succeed him as head of the Scuderia on 1 January 2008. Then, on 18 March 2008, he resigned his position as Special Advisor to the Ferrari board, to be replaced by Amedeo Felisa. He nonetheless remained a member of the board of Ferrari for a further year before resigning all his functions within the Italian firm in March 2009.

President of FIA

In April 2009, he became President of "eSafety Aware!" for the promotion of the smart vehicles and new safety technologies, which enabled him to improve his knowledge of the internal workings of the FIA.
On 16 July 2009, he officially announced his intention of running for the Presidency of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile in the election that was due to take place in October. The day before, he had received the support of outgoing President Max Mosley, who had decided not to stand for re-election. He was the second contender to declare, the 1981 world rally champion Ari Vatanen having announced his candidature just a few days earlier.
On 23 October 2009, he was elected President of the FIA gaining 135 votes in comparison to Vatanen's 49. He was re-elected, unchallenged, for a second four-year term on 6 December 2013, and was again re-elected, unopposed, for a third four-year term on 8 December 2017.

UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy

Since April 29, 2015, Jean Todt has been Special Envoy for Road Safety to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The new UN Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed him in this role on April 2017.

Other activities

Jean Todt also devotes his time to several charitable causes. He is one of the Founders and Vice-President of the Institut du cerveau et de la moelle épinière, an institute devoted to medical research for brain and spinal cord disorders, which was set up in 2005. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society since 2009, President of the Board of Directors of the Suu Foundation since December 2014, Tourism Ambassador for Malaysia and member of the Board of Directors for the International Peace Institute since June 2015. He has been a member of the IOC's Commission for Public Affairs and Social Development through Sport since April 2017.
Since January 2018, he has been a board member of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens.
He also sits on the boards of Gaumont, the Groupe Lucien Barrière and Edmond de Rothschild SA.
Since 2003, Todt has been an Honorary President of the Federazione Auto Motoristica Sammarinese and Ambassador of the Republic of San Marino.
He is also an Honorary Member of the Automobile Club de France and of the Polo de Paris.

Trophies and titles

Trophies

As co-driver

Fifty-four WRC competitions as co-driver with a total of four victories between 1973 and 1981:
Jean Todt has been awarded many titles and distinctions, including:
Michelle Yeoh has been Todt's partner since 2004.

Personal life

Jean Todt has been living with the Malaysian actress and producer Michelle Yeoh since 2004.
He has a son Nicolas, born in 1977, who shares his passion for Motorsport.