JULY 19, 2006

And what of Mr Todt?

While much attention has been given to who will drive where and whether or not Renault will re-sign Flavio Briatore as its team principal, it is worth mentioning that Ferrari team boss Jean Todt is also still to agree a contract to stay on with the Italian team in 2007. There is speculation in the usually well-informed Auto Motor und Sport that Todt has been offered a very impressive deal to stay for one more year. The financial details of the deal are not known but Ferrari has paid out some serious bonuses in recent years and a substantial windfall to send Todt into retirement might be an attractive concept for the 60-year-old Frenchman and he may be looking at timing his departure to coincide with that of Michael Schumacher.

If Michael Schumacher does not know when he is retiring, Todt may have the same problem.

One of the suggestions we heard earlier this year when Ferrari was struggling was that part of the problem was that people were busy positioning themselves for the post-Todt era.