Ross Brawn role at Mercedes under threat

[Andy_Bangle]

Interesting article about Ross Brawn's future on the BBC F1 website: BBC Sport - Formula 1: Ross Brawn role at Mercedes under threat

Also:

"There is a huge irony for McLaren in Mercedes' desire to poach their technical director Paddy Lowe.

"The Brawn team were only able to come into existence after the personal intervention of McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh with the Mercedes board.

"Four years later, the team has been taken over by Mercedes, and the German company has dropped McLaren as its works team.

"For the first time this season, McLaren have to pay for their Mercedes engines and now they could lose their technical director to their former partner as well.

"McLaren faced a similar situation in 2001, when their then technical director Adrian Newey - now the chief technical officer of world champions Red Bull - struck a deal to join Jaguar.

"Newey was later persuaded to change his mind by then-McLaren team principal Ron Dennis, now the chairman of the McLaren Group.

"But his dissatisfaction at McLaren eventually led him to leave and join Red Bull, which had taken over Jaguar, in 2006."

Andrew Benson

Chief F1 writer

[jimdiesel]

Paddy Lowe, was apparently on his way to Williams, but when Totto Wolff moved to Mercedes, Paddy just followed Totto.

Mercedes now have an increadibly top heavy structure, technically with Geoff Willis, Aldo Costa and Bob Bell on board.

Nick Fry will most certainly be surplus to requirements, and Ross Brawn really doesnt have a logical place there any more.

Still the whole Honda/Brawn/Mercedes metamorphisis has made them both very rich, and I am sure Ross would be welcomed with open arms at most teams if he so desires. I can see him returning to Williams, where he spent his early F1 years and help the team move forward.

[Mook]

Politics etc in F1 kicks off again.

You can always argue that it's sad to see someone pushed out when it was their vision that started a business, drove it to its success and then sold it, but I guess he must have seen it was going to happen at some point.

There seems to be a bit of a "changing of the guard" in F1 at the minute, what with Merc replacing their motorsport chief, Ron Dennis taking a proper back seat and rumours that Ecclestone will be retiring soon.

[NeilB]

There is something fundamentally wrong with the team from Brackley, even back in the BAR days it seemed to be a flawed team. 2 successful seasons out of 14 seems to prove that point to, and with so many big guns now at the helm you have to wonder if its going to be more of the same. Lauda didn't exactly do a fantastic job at Ferrari and Jaguar did he, and Wolff was only leading the team that Adam Parr built up. Perhaps hiring so many big names is the final cast of the dice for Mercedes as a team?

I do hope that Brawn goes to Williams, and buys into the team in order to give the team some form of security and leadership going forward.

I also await the news of Suzie Wolf to become a test/development driver at Mercedes...

[jimdiesel]

I was thinking the same re Suzie, Neil. Sam Bird should be worried

[Mook]

I do hope that Brawn goes to Williams, and buys into the team in order to give the team some form of security and leadership going forward.

That is such a stupidly good idea it's almost a wonder that anyone on TsN posted it

Holy crap - he could do a Brawn GP all over again :D