Formula 1 sporting director Ross Brawn has retired. The 68-year-old Briton confirmed this in his column on the website of the highest category in motorsport. “Since I joined the management team six years ago, a lot has changed for the better. Formula 1 is stronger than ever,” wrote Brawn, who began his Formula 1 career in 1978 as a Williams technician.
Brawn formed a “golden” combination with Michael Schumacher for years. He worked as technical director at Benetton and Ferrari with the German, which led to him winning seven world titles (in 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004). Brawn was seen as the strategic brain behind Schumacher’s successes.
The Briton said goodbye to Formula 1 in 2006, but returned three years later with his own team: Brawn GP. Brawn immediately handed over the 2009 world champion with Jenson Button, then sold his team to Mercedes, where Brawn worked with Schumacher for a while before disappearing from Formula 1 again at the end of 2013. Brawn returned to Formula 1 in early 2017 When the American owner Liberty Media hired him as the technical and sports director.
Enter a cost ceiling
“I have loved almost every minute of it and have been fortunate enough to work with so many great teams, great drivers and amazing people. I will now watch Formula 1 from the bench, cheer and swear like a fan. The sport has such a great future,” he writes.
Brawn calls the introduction of a cost cap, the addition of sprint racing and major aerodynamic changes to the cars his greatest successes. “It was a big kick for me when I saw two or three cars racing alongside each other this year; we didn’t see that much. Now you can drive fast behind another car for several laps without any problems.”
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