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Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto denies his predecessor, Jean Todt, could return to the Scuderia in the near future.
Todt was team principal at Ferrari from 1993 to 2007, overseeing the Italian marque’s domination with Michael Schumacher.
More latterly, he has spent the last 12 years as president of the FIA, a role he relinquished earlier this month.
It’s spurred rumours the Frenchman is set to reunite with his old employer in a role that spans both the racing and automotive businesses.
“I heard and I read about some specific speculations in that respect,” Binotto said when asked about the prospect of his former boss returning to the team.
“What I can say is that so far, they are only speculations.
“Personally, I worked with Jean Todt, he has been my boss, I think I learned a lot from him.
“It has been an honour to work with him.
“I would say that as well, in case whatever would be the future, it will still be an honour for me to work together with him because I still believe that as well as, at least as Mattia and as a team, there’s still much to learn.”
Pressed further on whether discussions had been held with Todt regarding a future role with Ferrari, Binotto added simply “no”.
Todt was ineligible for another term as FIA president because candidates must be under 75 on the day of the election (or of the re-election).
He’d also served the maximum number of terms allowed, having been elected once and re-elected twice, reaching the maximum allowable duration of 12 years in the same position.
“If you get something in your life, you must give something back,” said Todt at the FIA prizegiving ceremony earlier this month – his last official engagement as the organisation’s president.
“That’s why I went for FIA presidency. I won, and then I really wanted to deliver and to do something.
“Motor racing, I love,” he added
“I will still watch the race, enjoy the race, I hope that the sport will evolve properly.
“We need to learn out of it, we need to make strong regulations, we need to speak about safety as much as we can, because we can never do enough.
‘And then I may be involved in some other engagement, time will tell.”
Ferrari rose to third in the 2021 Formula 1 constructors’ championship standings, having slumped to seventh in 2020.
It heads into the 2022 campaign with a stable driver pairing of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
