Why Ross Brawn should run F1

One of the by-products of the Constantin Media trial in London's High Court - in which, among others, Bernie Ecclestone stands accused of underselling Formula 1's commercial rights to current majority owner CVC Capital Partners - is that the investment fund's co-founder Donald Mackenzie was unequivocal about the F1 tsar's fate should he in any way be linked to impropriety.

Last year, Gerhard Gribkowsky, the former risk officer of BayernLB, the Bavarian state-owned financial institution which inherited a 47.2 per cent shareholding of the rights after Kirch Media plunged into financial distress, pleaded guilty to accepting $44 million in bribes from Ecclestone and his family trust Bambino.

Constantin alleges it suffered a £100m financial loss through undervaluation.

During cross-examination, Mackenzie made clear that "if it is proven that Mr Ecclestone has done anything that is criminally wrong, we would fire him".

Without prejudging the verdict, due to be handed down in the new year, F1 would be left high and dry were that to come to pass, for Ecclestone has consistently refused to initiate any form of succession planning.

This despite Ecclestone being 83 years of age; despite him having undergone triple bypass surgery (albeit in 1999); despite the punishing schedule he forged for F1's future, a path which includes up to 25 rounds a year - average one a fortnight, January to December - and despite the fact that tens of thousands of families directly and indirectly depend upon effective leadership of the sport.

Clearly, on these grounds alone, there is a need for succession.

True, he has commented on the matter in the past, invariably throwaway lines designed to turf reporters off the scent or grab headlines - such as last year suggesting a woman could succeed him, a distinct possibility, but at odds with a previous assertion that "women should be dressed in white like all other domestic appliances" - but recently it seems he took heed of Mackenzie's comment by alluding to an heir apparent.

When many suggested that J Sainsbury CEO Justin King - self-confessed petrolhead and father of 2013 British Formula 3 champion Jordan King - or Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore could rise to the occasion, Ecclestone was dismissive.

Christian Horner © XPB

About the only potential candidate he kept publicly schtum about was Sacha Jane Woodward Hill, and many wondered whether Formula One Management's (ultra) low profile in-house counsel was The Chosen One.

Indeed, those who have had dealings with the 44-year-old lawyer praise her skills, and some suggest she knows the sport's intricacies even better than the boss.

"She's the only person Mr E listens to in meetings," one team principal recently told this column. High praise, that.

However, as F1 assembled in Brazil for the season finale, news came that Ecclestone proposed Christian Horner, team principal of the all-conquering Red Bull Racing operation, as his successor.

That Ecclestone and the 40-year-old are close - some suggest Horner is viewed by him as the son he never had - is a matter of record, this column recently revealing that the Red Bull chief was the only F1 invitee at Ecclestone's wedding.

Horner was quick to scotch such suggestions and, frankly, most in the paddock sighed with relief, for despite his remarkable championship pedigree, directing the intricacies of a global sport is somewhat different from leading a 650-man fighting machine on behalf of an energy drinks magnate.

For starters, where the former sells performance off a £200m annual budget provided almost entirely by in-house sources, the latter reports to the head of one of the world's most exploitative investment funds, with its billion (and a half) dollar income principally derived from myriad contracts with TV broadcasters across the globe and race-hosting agreements with hardnosed businessmen all too often installed by politicians.

Add in regular sporting/technical dealings with an oft-recalcitrant FIA World Motor Sport Council; enough intrigue to educate Machiavelli; fraught dealings with team bosses (collectively 'The Piranha Club'), each with their own agendas; juggling of high-level sponsors, technical and logistics partners and premium hospitality services (plus dedicated travel agency); and overseeing the world's largest hi-def outside broadcast unit feeding 200 countries, and it's clear the job is not for the faint-of-heart or short-of-experience.

After all, Ecclestone only truly got into his stride after a formative period selling used motorcycle bits as a schoolboy, then 20 years of successful used car/motorcycle trading before a decade doubling as championship-winning team owner (Brabham) and boss of the Formula One Constructors' Association.

There he fought bitter battles in the early '80s with the then-equivalent of the FIA before wresting control of the sport's TV rights for FOCA, then later for his own organisation - which he's headed for 20 years.

Not, therefore, a job for a former driver with but eight years experience on the F1 pitwall, having previously managed a Formula 3000 team.

If this seems harsh on Horner, it's certainly not intended thus; simply, it is difficult to imagine any single individual replacing Ecclestone, yet that's precisely what the man himself suggested, not Horner.

It may, of course, have been Ecclestone's own inimitable way of deflecting inevitable questions after Mackenzie's barbed testimony, leaving Horner to comment (which he did). Equally, the statement may have been to placate CVC - which needs to keep investors sweet, now and in the future - by alluding to some form of succession.

Bernie Ecclestone © LAT

Currently there exists a notion in the paddock that three individuals with vastly differing but complementary skills sets are required to eventually replace Ecclestone.

This is, though, more a reflection of the complexity of structures he has (deliberately?) put in place than of the business, which, if reduced to basic terms, operates by buying F1 services from teams, repackaging them and wholesaling the 'show' to circuits and media outlets, who in turn add value and retail the final product to consumers (fans).

However, imagine the chaos that would result were F1 to have three 'bosses', each pulling in a different direction. Mackenzie admitted in court that "[F1 had been] an extremely difficult investment almost from start to finish", and that a succession plan was "very important".

Consider, then, how much worse matters could turn should a yet-to-be-formed triumvirate take over the helm of this most fractious of sports, one contested by an eclectic mix of entities, ranging from arguably the world's two premier automotive brands (Ferrari and Mercedes) through a drinks company (with two teams) to an outfit which recorded a £140m loss in four years, during which it failed to score a single point in 150 starts.

Such an arrangement would almost certainly spell the end of F1 as it has become loved by zillions across the world, the sport rapidly going downhill in a spiral to match the speed of its cars. Think A1GP disappeared fast? Its demise would be snail-slow in comparison...

Simply put, after the Ecclestone Era - ended for whatever reason - F1 needs to be run by an individual, one with decades of achievement in the sport, a thinker/doer/visionary able to grasp its complexities and separate wheat from chaff; a person who reacts calmly in a crisis - of which there are likely to be many - yet is not a 'firefighter' in the paddock sense and, crucially, enjoys the respect the entire F1 community, from FIA through peers and partners to fans.

No one ticks all the boxes at the moment, but there is one man who, granted unfettered access to Ecclestone before it's too late, would certainly grow into the position, for not only has F1's special hi-octane pumped through his veins since childhood, but his record in the sport, whether as engineer, technical director, team principal or senior board member, is unequalled.

Sporting, technical, commercial or managerial, he has seen, done and conquered each one, all while remaining utterly approachable, always with a ready smile or courteous comment. Where there are angles he measures them without protractor; where there are none, he creates them PDQ - half the secret of his success.

That man is Ross James Brawn, who turned 59 on the day Horner denied any interest in taking F1's top job, then a week later confirmed his exit from the team principalship of the Mercedes-Benz AMG Formula 1 squad - no surprise given the massive restructure the operation has undergone during the past 12 months.

Tellingly, in February Brawn let it be known he would leave the team on his terms...

Ecclestone and Brawn in 2012 © XPB

So steeped is Brawn in motor racing that in 1964 - aged 10 - one of his slot cars, a beautifully-built 1/32nd-scale Cooper, appeared in a specialist magazine, and while still at school he founded HB Models, which manufactured high-end, championship-winning slot-race chassis.

Some say it beats selling oily bike bits...

His career thereafter is well documented, but highlights include designing the Jaguar XJR-14 sportscar, which won the 1991 championship for TWR, which in turn led to his joining Benetton as technical director when Tom Walkinshaw's group signed up as its engineering consultancy.

Three world titles with the fashion-brand-owned team attest to his skill and management.

At Ferrari things got even better. Poached by premier motorsport manager Jean Todt and reunited with Michael Schumacher (and Rory Byrne on the drawing board), Brawn was an integral part of the Scuderia as it utterly dominated F1 from 1999-2004, winning 11 titles in that period against a field which included the might of Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, Honda, Ford (Jaguar) and Renault.

After a year's much-needed sabbatical during which he went fishing around the world, Ross was recruited by Honda, spending 2008 overseeing a restructure of the team and the design of the Japanese company's 2009 car.

When Honda withdrew in December 2008, he deftly negotiated a management buyout and persuaded Mercedes to provide power at a cut price.

The resultant Brawns ran under numbers 22 and 23 with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello respectively - only after much politicking over name changes and TV money - and both 2009 championships went to Brawn Grand Prix.

Yes, a controversial double-deck diffuser played a crucial role, but that's part and parcel of F1, and Brawn exploited the loophole (and political ramifications) to perfection.

In a neat twist, Scalextric produced a slot-car version of the BGP 001 to commemorate a team which raced in 17 rounds, winning eight and scoring 15 podiums before disappearing in the wake of the sale of the company to Mercedes. Again, heavy lobbying and much persuasion of shareholders was required.

Last month in Brazil, Mercedes clinched second in the constructors' championship, and a week later the team released a statement that Brawn was leaving.

That he will be much missed became clear from comments made by Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda during Sunday's AUTOSPORT Awards: "Ross was certainly the mastermind of the whole team - and when he goes fishing the new people have to fill a big hole."

AUTOSPORT colleague Mark Hughes last week suggested that Ross could well be appointed as the FIA's Formula 1 Commissioner, effectively coordinating and overseeing the governance of the sport on behalf of Todt, re-elected as FIA president as this is written. There is no doubt he would be perfect in that role.

However, it's very important that a bigger position be filled, and can there be a better man for the task; one who has at least 11 years of productivity to offer the sport he loves?

So, Bernie, here's the deal: let Ross go fishing for six months, then 'hold his hand' for an agreed handover timeframe.

After all, it was you who said: "Christian would be ideal. I would be happy to hold his hand. We could have a transitional period. It needs someone who knows the sport. If someone comes in from outside, a corporate type, I don't think I could work with them. It wouldn't last five minutes.

"People deal with me because they know me. They know I'm straight with them. That's how it is with Christian. I hope we can do it." All that - and more - applies to Ross...