Mosley: Todt is terrified of being sued

Jean Todt's predecessor at the FIA - Max Mosley - says he should put Formula 1 back on the right track by having the current FOM agreements with individual teams challenged in court, but at the same time believes the Frenchman is not keen on a legal showdown with Bernie Ecclestone.

Amid a poisonous political climate at present and fierce criticism of the sport's deadlocked governance processes and rules, current president Todt admitted in Bahrain recently that the FIA should have total control of F1.

But he said Ecclestone's existing agreements with the Paris federation and the eleven competing teams do not expire until 2020.

So if he behaves like a "dictator" and tears up the rules and the contracts, Todt tipped the FIA to be sued.

"But I've been entrusted by 250 FIA members to be the president, so I cannot allow the FIA to be sued, and we would lose," said the Frenchman.

But getting sued, argues Todt's much more brazen predecessor Max Mosley, is exactly what could steer F1 back onto the right track.

"Todt is terrified of being sued," Mosley told The Times newspaper. "But the only thing you can do is to go to litigation and arbitration.

"Todt is all for peace and compromise but you have to be prepared to risk litigation or you can't do anything. You have to be prepared to go full steam ahead," he insisted.