Todt: Vatanen asked Bernie for support…
FIA members will decide on a new president on Friday and the campaigns from Todt and Vatanen have been littered with accusations of 'personal attacks' and 'dirty tactics'.
Vatanen has been vocal about his unhappiness with outgoing president Max Mosley's decision to back his rival. However, Todt claims the Finn also tried to get senior figures in F1 to support him.
"I know my competitor went to see Bernie [Ecclestone] as well," Todt told The Guardian. "He wanted to try and convince Bernie to support him. Bernie said no. There are a lot of others he tried to convince."
The Frenchman also questioned the Vatanen camp's decision to reveal that they have the support of the majority of those in the Middle East.
"I felt disappointed when the other side announced they had 80% of the votes in the Middle East," he said. "That is untrue. It's not good. If you are talking about transparency, and saying things must be clean, how can you give wrong information?"
"I will not give you a figure but a large majority is in our favor. I have never met Prince Faisal. But I hope I will meet him soon and show I can deliver a good job. If I am elected I want everyone to participate. One of my challenges will be to work well with Jordan and others who did not support me. I want to start from a blank sheet." planetf1.com