FIA president Jean Todt reveals that Sergio Marchionne was positive about the future of the sport before his tragic death happened in June...
Marchionne, in the past, has been very critical of some of the alterations that owners Liberty Media have planned/done to the sport, but it seems just before his tragic death, the opposition was no longer there for the former Ferrari president.
Todt revealed that himself, Marchionne and F1 chairman Chase Carey had dinner together back in June, and this is where they convinced Sergio that the sport is heading in the right direction.
"On June 28, we had a dinner in my office in Geneva," Todt explained to Motorsport. "It was him, Chase Carey and myself, to speak about the future of F1.
"And on the 29th, he sent me an SMS to say it was a great meeting, and 'we will move positively for the sport'. I am sure about those dates, but I am not sure about when we went into hospital."
Marchionne passed away in June following complications that occurred as a result of surgery.
"Normally, this dinner was due to be on the Sunday night after the Austrian GP, but he sent me a message to say unfortunately he could not make it, could we change it and do it before? So we did it on the 28th and then the tragedy occurred."