Former Ferrari General Manager and FIA President Jean Todt says 'excellence at all levels' will be required if Ferrari are to challenge once again for the Formula 1 World Championship. After a winless couple of seasons, Ferrari have returned to the winners' dais in 2022, with Charles Leclerc taking three victories and Carlos Sainz one. However, there might have been several more wins were it not for a wretched combination of poor reliability, questionable strategy calls and driver error. Todt's spell in charge of Ferrari's race team between 1994 and 2007 coincided with the most successful spell in the Scuderia's history, and in order for the glory days to return, the Frenchman said it would be necessary for the team to reach and maintain a standard of excellence. "Ferrari is doing very well now. It seems to me that people are not fully aware of this. Ferrari is back to winning," Todt told the Gazzetta dello Sport . "I think almost everyone would like to see Ferrari win championships, not just a few races. We can hope so for next year, because this year I don't think it's possible any more. "But to win you need excellence at all levels. It is difficult to reach it, and even more difficult to maintain it. "It starts with excellence in detail, from the one who answers the phone in the company. If a company does not answer the phone after ten rings, that is not a good company. "You cannot make two identical mistakes. If that happens, it means that something needs to change."
Todt's Ferrari set new standards of success
The first non-Italian to lead Ferrari, Todt joined the Scuderia in 1993 when the team was at a low ebb, rife with internal politics and without a Grand Prix win since 1990. The Frenchman's arrival coincided with an immediate upturn in form, with Gerhard Berger winning the following year's German Grand Prix, but things really began to take off for Ferrari when Michael Schumacher was persuaded to come on board in 1996. After a couple of near misses, in 2000 Schumacher duly scored the first Drivers' Championship by a Ferrari driver since Jody Scheckter in 1979, and the German would go on to win the next four titles, with Todt's Ferrari team setting new standards in performance and reliability. Todt stepped down as chief of Ferrari's racing division at the end of 2007, and despite coming close in 2010 and 2012, the Scuderia have not won a Drivers' Championship since the Frenchman's departure.
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