Vatanen vows to work with FOTA

FIA presidential candidate Ari Vatanen has promised to work closely with the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) should his cabinet be voted into power in October. The Finn, 1981 World Rally Champion, believes that close relations with teams are vital for the overall stability of the sport.

With the current head of the governing body - Max Mosley - due to step down in October, Vatanen is running head-to-head against former Ferrari Team Principal Jean Todt for when the role changes hands for the first time since 1991. "There is so much untapped potential in the sport but we can realise it if we work together," Vatanen told Autosport.

"The people in FOTA are the ones that know what the sport and the business is about. The fact is that the sport has not been run as they would like over the years and they have realised that they can work together, and with the FIA, in the common interest." FOTA currently consists of eight current teams (all bar Williams and Force India) and Vatanen believes that the group, which represents 16 of the 20 cars on the current grid, should be treated with the upmost respect.

"They have lived in fear, without knowing what the future holds, and that's no way to run a sport," he stressed, having retired from politics this year after a decade in the European Parliament. "I can't see why different members of the same family cannot work together without one side or another wanting to dominate the other.

"My message is that it doesn't take away anyone's independence to work together, it's in everyone's interest that the competitors prosper and remain in the FIA championship; our role is to give them a platform from which to perform - it's in the interest of everyone to make sure that this platform is as solid as possible and that there are as many competitors as possible."

Source: GP Update