Overview
- Todt said on the High Performance podcast that Michael Schumacher intentionally collided with Jacques Villeneuve at Jerez in 1997 and purposely stopped or spun at Monaco’s Rascasse in 2006 qualifying.
- He asserted those two choices cost Schumacher two world titles, a claim analysts quickly challenged by pointing to the points math and race dynamics in both seasons.
- RaceFans noted Schumacher lost the 2006 crown by 13 points and argued the Monaco penalty likely was not decisive, while Villeneuve had already seized the inside line for the pass at Jerez in 1997.
- Todt had defended Schumacher at the time, but his new account comes with added weight because he led Ferrari then and later ran the FIA; the original sanctions stood as a 1997 disqualification and a back‑of‑grid start at Monaco 2006.
- He also described Schumacher as shy and emotionally fragile rather than arrogant, offering a portrait that humanizes the champion even as his intent in those flashpoints is reevaluated.