Nicolas, who is currently co-heading the French GP2 team while also managing some race drivers in Formula One (Felipe Massa being the most important) made it very clear that only a strong dossier would ensure ART Grand Prix a worthy place in F1 next season. Among its rivals for an F1 spot we mention Stefan GP and Spanish outfit Epsilon Euskadi.
“My father is anything but stupid. For us, we need to do things even better than the best in order to not be open to criticism. Our dossier needs to be better than any others, because I do not expect any gifts from the FIA, quite the contrary,” said Todt in an interview with French magazine Auto Hebdo.
In addition, Nicolas Todt made it very clear that if his team will succeed in securing an F1 entry in 2011, he wants to follow the path of Mercedes GP and McLaren Mercedes in creating an all-French team in the sport. If not two racing drivers, he would fancy at least one, while admitting he'd push for a Renault deal for the team's first year in the series.
“That (having a French driver) would be even more enjoyable. And even better with French technical partners as well. France has an enormous reservoir of human talent and enterprise at a very high level. There is certainly enough to show the English what we are capable of,” added Todt, who has managed French driver Sebastien Bourdais in F1 last year.
As for the Renault power, it seems more and more teams are now considering a potential deal with the French manufacturer (Red Bull's success is sure a big part of this). Williams is presumably interested in switching from Cosworth to Renault, especially since the French company admitted a few weeks ago that it could afford supplying more teams with F1 power.
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