Tuesday 9 February at 08:31 : Feb.9 (GMM) Jean Todt is convinced Flavio Briatore was guilty of fixing the 2008 Singapore grand prix.

Briatore, banned for life from motor racing by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council under the former presidency of Max Mosley, recently won a French legal bid to have the sanction declared illegal and overturned.

But now that Frenchman Todt, 63, has succeeded Mosley, the FIA new president insists that Briatore remains guilty.

"Proof? The facts were so obvious that someone (Pat Symonds) apologised," Todt told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"At the World Council, there was only one vote against the penalty," he revealed.

The loophole that allowed Briatore to overturn his ban is that senior team personnel do not actually hold FIA licenses, meaning the governing body does not have the ability to revoke them.

"We shall return to the issue, especially on the matter of licenses, so that all teams managers have to hold them," Todt confirmed.

He added that the Paris court only invalidated the Briatore verdict due to the "procedural" technicalities.

Meanwhile, Todt indicated that he is opposed to Mosley's budget caps, believing cost cutting can be better achieved "through the regulations".

"For example, there should be an unique aerodynamic package for the entire year," he said.

"It will cause grip problems in Monaco? Even better, we will see the skills of the drivers!"