Brawn committed to Mercedes future

Brawn returned to F1 with Honda in 2008 following a sabbatical, and he helped the outfit win the title under his own moniker before guiding it to its current tie-up with Mercedes-Benz.

And although there has been speculation about how long he will stay around now that Mercedes GP's future is secure, Brawn said in Korea that he was sure he would remain central to the outfit - but he also had to make sure that there were plans in place for when he did eventually decide to step back from the sport.

When asked to comment on reports in the media that he was looking at taking a step back from front-line team principal duties, Brawn said: "I want to spend more time at the factory to be honest, because when you are spending so much time at the races it is difficult to devote time to the factory - and we have a lot going on.

"We are developing the organisation and are very excited about how the organisation is developing for the future, so it is just perhaps looking for a different balance for the future, but it's not for the next few years.

"Every organisation should be structured to have someone to replace them, because you never know when that bus comes around the corner. You have to have an organisation that would cope."

Brawn made it clear that his commitment was unwavering for now.

"I am totally committed for the next few years and I want this team to succeed," he said. "I hope it can and also in a way do what I did at Ferrari, which was leave a good structure behind. Everybody has to have a succession plan and we will have one."