In recent weeks, the two have started a media war based on Ecclestone's initial accusations that Todt is nothing but a “poor man's Max” and that his attempt to make the Great Circus greener and more environmentally friendly is a “complete joke”. While many believed the F1 boss' frustration comes from the FIA's decision to introduce a 4-cylinder turbocharged engine in the series in 2013, the true reason seems to lie elsewhere. As expected, it's all about the money!
According to a recent interview given by Todt to the Financial Times, it seems the Frenchman is seeking (and has been doing so for some months) a better commercial deal for the international federation as part of the Concorde Agreement.
What that means for Ecclestone is that when the new Concorde Agreement will be signed, sometime next year (as it expires at the end of 2012), he won't have only the teams to please in terms of revenues, but also the FIA. The teams want more money, the FIA wants more money, so that puts the 80-year old Englishman in a somewhat difficult situation.
“Technology has changed. Evolution has a price. I must make sure that the funding for the FIA is correct,” Todt told the Financial Times a few days ago. In addition, he admitted that he is not at all happy with his predecessor Max Mosley's handing over a 100-year commercial rights lease to Ecclestone a decade ago, in exchange of $360 million, but that the contract signed back then cannot be changed.
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