Former world rally champion Ari Vatanen has criticised the manner by which Max Mosley has gone public in his support for candidate Jean Todt in the future FIA presidential elections.
Mosley announced earlier this week that he was to step down from his current role at the end of October. In his letter explaining the reasons behind the move, he also said that the best man to replace him would be Todt.
Vatanen has questioned the ethics of such a move, and thinks that it proves that Todt will merely be representing the 'old era'.
"Although I have criticised the FIA strongly, I have never aimed it at Mosley personally," Vatanen told Spanish newspaper AS.
"But it's not good that a leader stays in the post for a long time, and when that happens, the best thing is a change. And I represent that change, a new era with more freshness.
"On the contrary, Jean Todt represents the old era, and it's not right that Max wants to impose a new leader, and that he uses the power of the federation to support his campaign. The FIA is not a kingdom; it's a republic where the leaders are chosen democratically.
"At Ferrari they don't want Todt to be president, and so they have told me, because they think they sport would lose credibility. The same would happen if it was Ross Brawn or Flavio Briatore running. The president of the FIA must be someone neutral."
Despite Vatanen's claims about Ferrari not wanting Todt, AUTOSPORT understands that the Italian team has expressed no preference in who wins the FIA election, and is adopting a neutral stance regarding the situation.