Paddock Diary special: FIA conference 2019 day one

On day one at the FIA conference in South Africa @DieterRencken has a one-to-one chat with FIA president Jean Todt and picks up a fascinating titbit about the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

5:30am Tuesday

Arrive at Oliver Tambo Airport, South Africa’s main gateway, having flown in overnight from Baku, via Dubai. The reason for my visit to the country of my birth is the annual FIA Conference, held for the first time in Africa.

I’d previously attended such conferences in Turin, Geneva and Manilla, but this edition is, of course, extra special due to being staged in the country where I fell in love with motorsport, hosted by the ASN that issued my competition licences over the years.

Convoluted travel arrangements from Baku mean I miss the opening day, but the agenda runs through to Friday morning, so there is plenty to keep me busy.

First I have to navigate the 200 kilometres from Johannesburg to Sun City. Alfa Romeo kindly provide a Stelvio for the trip (though not the F1 car-liveried edition), which I share with is FIA Communications Director Olivier Fisch.

After two hours we pull up outside Cascades Hotel, one of four establishments in a massive resort which offers myriad recreational opportunities: sporting facilities, gambling, concerts and game drives in the adjoining Pilanesberg National Park.

10am

After check-in and quick refresh it’s registration time. For the first time at an FIA Conference, ‘Sport’ and ‘Mobility’ feature on the same agenda – previously each had their own annual conferences. Clearly an element of unification of the two different disciplines (albeit with overlapping interests) forms part of President Jean Todt’s strategy during his final term in office.

Presentations of common interest are attended by delegates from both, while workshops for one discipline are held while the other has a plenary session. The overarching theme is ‘Stronger Together’, with Monday’s opening session leaving no doubts as to the biggest challenge facing both motorsport and mobility: sustainability.

I’m given notes about the sessions: transportation currently accounts for 59% of oil demand, and 95% of that transport relies upon fossil fuels – indicating that electrification still has a long way to go.

I’d like to have attended the Roborace presentation, not so much for its racing potential but to gain an idea of how artificial intelligence developed in racing can transfer to road relevance, and I add a chat with Roborace’s chief strategy officer Bryn Balcombe, whom I’ve met up with a few times, to my to-do list.

Where there are, though, specific topics to discuss, the two disciplines hold dedicated sessions: For example, while Mobility discussed road safety, Sport delegates attended a workshop on ‘Girls on Track’, which has taken Susie Wolff’s Dare to be Different initiative under its wing.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

11am

The first plenary session of the day, ‘Driving Talent’, features nine-times Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen and South Africa’s Dakar winner Giniel de Villiers. The theme is ‘How to attract and develop talent’, and it’s clear success in motorsport requires a lot more than money and talent. The need for the correct mind-set, if anything, overrides the other requirements.

12pm

Catch up with Giniel – with whom I’d previously done TV work in SA – and I quiz him about the announcements that Saudi Arabia will host the next five Dakars, and Fernando Alonso’s Dakar test. As expected, he speaks highly of the Spaniard, and reckons he could have a successful cross-country career.

“But he’d have to be happy to aim for a top 10 placing at his first attempt…” Giniel says, adding it’s unlikely Fernando will win first time out as he has in other categories. Giniel smiles as he relates that Fernando was initially amazed at the speed at which the ‘yumps’ are attacked, but soon adapted.

1pm

Lunch: grilled lamb chops and baked potato followed by fruit salad, then and return to hall for the second plenary: ‘Developing Nations’, about attracting top-class motorsport events to developing countries. F1 has excelled in this with its grands prix in the Middle East and Asia. More to follow on this in an upcoming RacingLines column.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

4:30pm

Called to FIA president Jean Todt’s office for an exclusive interview with a man with impeccable motorsport credentials, as winning competitor, hugely successful manager in rallying, sports cars and F1, and highly respected administrator.

As with the plenary, I’ll share our chat with you next week, but I was massively impressed that he spoke about Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna in the same breath: all too often the Austrian’s tragic death is overshadowed by that of the Brazilian.

I’m amused by his response to my question about Senna driving for Ferrari. Not by the fact that they’d discussed the eventuality, but that Senna still had a cavalier attitude towards contracts despite having been suspended from driving by Alex Hawkridge of Toleman 1984 after then-24-year-old future champion broke contract with the team that gave him his F1 break.

• Todt reveals why he turned down chance to sign Senna for Ferrari in 1994

Go ad-free for just £1 per month

>> Find out more and sign up

7pm

Shuttle to Lost Palace Hotel for gala banquet: scallops as starter, followed by springbok loin, then nougat ice cream, with a local band playing typically SA music. I share a table with FIA steward Andrew Mallalieu, my mate Dario Rossi (Riedel) and Luigi Rossi (OMP). The latter recounts his experiences at Imola on this day 25 years ago.

Luigi remains haunted by the fact that all weekend Senna pestered him for different driving gloves, saying his usual ones were extremely uncomfortable due to the revised steering wheel position in the Williams…

10:30pm

Back at Cascades, and my first proper sleep since departing Baku on Monday morning.

2019 F1 season

• Crying in the Melbourne car park at 2019 grand prix was my career low – Ocon
• McLaren Racing reports reduced £71 million loss in 2019
• Kvyat: Hockenheim podium last year was “my biggest achievement” so far
• How the FIA’s new encrypted fuel flow meter targets Ferrari’s suspected ‘aliasing’ trick
• “He smashed my office door”: 23 must-see moments from ‘Drive to Survive’ season two

Browse all 2019 F1 season articles