Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Ross Brawn: I could not work with Bernie Ecclestone in F1

Formula 1's new motorsport managing director Ross Brawn says he could not work with Bernie Ecclestone, but he has denied making that a condition of taking on the role

Brawn joined new F1 owner Liberty Media as part of a three-man team alongside new CEO Chase Carey and commercial boss Sean Bratches.

As part of the restructure, Ecclestone relinquished control and moved to the role of chairman emeritus with the 86-year-old admitting he now has little to do with the new management.

Former Mercedes team principal Brawn started working for Liberty as a consultant while the American company progressed with its bid for F1 before agreeing to take on a permanent role.

Ecclestone claims Brawn said he would not take the job if he stayed on, but when Brawn was asked in an interview for an upcoming issue of Autosport's sister title F1 Racing if he made that a condition, he said: "That is not true.

"I mean, I couldn't work with Bernie, but I never made that a condition."

+ Why Ecclestone can't let go of F1

Brawn said he and Ecclestone have very different views on how to take F1 forward, which would have made working together challenging.

"It would have been very entertaining to work with Bernie," he added.

"It wasn't impossible, but Bernie has done things in his own way over the years, and very effectively.

"But I've never seen Bernie with any serious partners, certainly not in terms of running the business.

"He's had people who've helped him with aspects of the business, but I'm not sure that my philosophy of how I think it could go forward necessarily aligns with Bernie's.

"Bernie was very adept to a reactive approach; mine is the opposite, I want to have a planned and a long-term approach.

"I think Bernie's famously said 'Don't plan long-term because you don't know what's going to be there when you get there.'"

Brawn says FOM will be working closely with the FIA to be strongly involved with decisions on future regulations, but he insisted the ultimate responsibility for the rules would stay with the FIA.

"We're going to fight our corner, if anything more strongly in the future than perhaps has been done," he said.

"That's not to say that previous management were not interested in that, but it was a bit staccato.

"They came in when there was a crisis, whereas we want to be part of a continuous process to try and improve.

"So we believe we've got a role to play and we've got a right to get involved in helping shape the regulations for the future.

"But ultimately it's not our responsibility - that responsibility has to lie with the FIA, because they are the regulatory body."

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article F1 risks losing Red Bull after 2020 depending on engine rules
Next article F1 driver Pascal Wehrlein defends handling of his back injury

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe