Career Ross Brawn

1 career

1.1 benetton (1991–1996)
1.2 ferrari (1997–2006)
1.3 honda (2008)
1.4 brawn gp (2009)
1.5 mercedes (2010–2013)
1.6 2014 2016
1.7 formula 1 management (2017-present)

career

his career in motorsport began in 1976 when joined march engineering in town of bicester milling machine operator. afterwards joined formula 3 racing team mechanic. brawn hired sir frank williams in 1978 machinist newly formed williams team. moved through ranks, working in r&d department frank dernie , aerodynamicist in team s wind tunnel.

brawn joined haas lola team in 1985 , part of neil oatley s design team @ force produced both lola thl1 , thl2 cars used team. however, 4 cylinder hart engine in thl1 , new ford v6 turbo powering thl2, results scarce against teams mclaren , williams tag-porsche , honda turbo engines. despite cars being regarded in f1 paddock being best handling cars on grid, having 1980 world champion alan jones , former factory ferrari , renault driver patrick tambay drivers. when haas team left f1 @ end of 1986 season, brawn moved arrows. there designed megatron powered arrows a10 , update, a10b 1987 , 1988 seasons respectively , ford v8 powered arrows a11 used in 1989.

later in 1989 brawn moved jaguar sportscar racing division, , lead designer on jaguar xjr-14 won 1991 world sportscar championship.

benetton (1991–1996)

later in 1991 brawn returned f1 technical director of benetton team, helping win consecutive world drivers championships in 1994 , 1995 michael schumacher, , take world constructors championship in 1995. brawn credited of specialist press being important part of these championships, particularly in terms of devising race strategy.

ferrari (1997–2006)

brawn in pit lane @ 2003 united states grand prix

brawn followed schumacher ferrari f1 team in late 1996, @ end of schumacher s first year team. again renowned race strategies team began challenge championship 1997, despite superiority of williams cars year , mclarens 1998 onwards. after these rebuilding years, (as ferrari technical director) helped ferrari regain glory when team won constructors championship in 1999, first of 6 consecutive titles. brawn-guided scuderia powered schumacher 5 consecutive drivers titles, 2000 2004. brawn s contributions unprecedented string of titles has led many label him vital member of ferrari dream team along schumacher, team principal jean todt , chief designer rory byrne. in 2005 ferrari never quite found form, , had relinquish title renault, , schumacher passed crown fernando alonso. in 2006 ferrari had poor start season, had fastest car end of season.

on 26 october 2006 ferrari announced brawn leave team. believed take one-year sabbatical, allow other members of ferrari technical departments advance within team.

honda (2008)

towards end of 2007 reported brawn join big-spending red bull outfit part of package intended attract double world champion fernando alonso, announced on 12 november 2007 brawn become new team principal of honda f1 . started working british-based team on 26 november 2007.

with withdrawal of honda formula 1 announced in late 2008 brawn out of sport unless buyer found. unfortunate brawn believed team had race-winning car 2009.

brawn gp (2009)

on 5 march 2009 100% buy-out of honda f1 completed, brawn taking controlling 54% stake. announced entry 2009 f1 world championship under new name brawn gp. minority shareholders ceo nick fry (31%), former honda finance chief nigel kerr (8%), former honda head of human resources john marsden (3%), former honda legal counsel caroline mcgrory (3%) , former honda director gordon blair (1%).

many aspects of honda f1 retained under new ownership, including experienced driver line-up of rubens barrichello , jenson button. brawn gp chose source engines 2009 season mercedes-benz. in first grand prix of 2009 in australia, button qualified in pole position barrichello in 2nd place, went on finish in positions. of 19 grand prix races of 2009 season, button won 6 , barrichello won 2, while team finished in both 1st , 2nd places in 4 races , in podium positions in 11 races.

the brawn team given financial boost on eve of australian gp when virgin boss sir richard branson announced going become team sponsor. team got second sponsor on board, swiss brokers mig investments. brawn gp won 2009 formula 1 world constructors championship , 1 of drivers, jenson button, won world drivers championship @ brazilian grand prix.

brawn appointed officer of order of british empire (obe) in 2010 new year honours services motorsport.

mercedes (2010–2013)

brawn gp bought out mercedes-benz in november 2009 in deal reported worth £110m. brawn, majority shareholder, stood financially deal , remained team principal. , nick fry kept 24.9% share in new team, sold mercedes in 2011. in december 2009 seven-time world champion michael schumacher confirmed main reason decided come out of retirement , drive mercedes gp because of brawn. @ benetton , @ ferrari brawn masterminded schumacher s 7 world titles.

the start of 2010 season rather slow, , in first 3 races, schumacher managed 6th in bahrain, 10th in australia, , retired in malaysia because of lost wheel nut, whilst schumacher s teammate , fellow-countryman nico rosberg had bit more success car, finishing 5th in malaysia , in australia , scoring first podium mercedes grand prix 3rd place in malaysia.

the team won first race on 15 april 2012, when nico rosberg won chinese grand prix team continued run china schumacher qualifying fastest @ monaco, , rosberg finishing on podium. however, towards end of season, team had lacklustre results. in 2012 japanese grand prix schumacher announced retirement formula 1, , mercedes announced 2008 world champion , mclaren driver, lewis hamilton, join line-up, pairing rosberg 2013 f1 season.

2013 started off 2012 had left off mercedes pre-season indicated car unreliable, rosberg suffering damage exhaust on first day of testing in jerez, , hamilton suffering brake failure on second day. however, testing continued mercedes showed signs of pace, particularly in final barcelona test. @ first race in melbourne both rosberg , hamilton qualified inside top 10, hamilton finishing 5th place whilst rosberg suffered more problems car, retiring. in second race of season, mercedes finished 3rd (hamilton) , 4th (rosberg), amid controversial malaysian grand prix. brawn spoke both drivers on team radio asking them hold position fear of high degrading pirelli tyres , lack of fuel on board both cars. third race @ china established mercedes pace title contenders when lewis hamilton took mercedes second pole position in 2 years @ china whilst rosberg qualified 4th. hamilton went on finish in 3rd place rosberg again had retire anti-rollbar failure.

on 29 october, bbc reported brawn leave mercedes @ end of 2013 season, following disagreement role in team , on 28 november reported leave team @ end of year.

2014 2016

on 1 february 2014, brawn announced retirement formula one, ending speculation of possible position @ woking-based mclaren team.

the fia announced in october 2014 brawn member of 10-strong panel investigate jules bianchi s crash @ 2014 japanese grand prix , panel report world motor sport council in december.

in interview daily telegraph in october 2016 brawn indicated ready return formula 1, though in strategic rather team role. book on strategy in formula 1, total competition, released week later.

formula 1 management (2017-present)

on 23 january 2017 announced ross brawn appointed newly created role of managing director, motor sports formula 1 group.