The Weekly Grapevine

A rather expected surprise

A year ago at Monza, a British American Tobacco manager first suggested to this column that Ross Brawn could be heading for Honda.

The sponsor's representative was adamant that the owl-spectacled engineering and sporting genius had been in touch, and that negotiations were far advanced.

Then, three hours later, came confirmation of Michael Schumacher's retirement, and the suggestion got lost amid the noise surrounding his future plans, confirmation of Kimi Raikkonen's appointment as replacement, and speculation about Jean Todt's future. Finally, the Honda/Brawn story lost momentum when Ross confirmed his year's sabbatical from Formula One.

Ross Brawn © Honda

However, the following week, in the Schumacher tribute edition, this column referred to the BAT man's suggestion, stating: "Rumours increasingly link him (Brawn) with a move to the Honda F1 Racing Team - as team principal, no less.

"And it makes sense: The Englishman, recognized as the tactician on the pit wall, has longed to return to his home in Oxford; Honda is a technically-driven company supplying the financial and other resources as required, thus removing that burden; he has worked closely with Rubens Barrichello and thus has a ready conduit; and, above all, he has the ambitions and nous to make it all happen.

"All involved parties have publicly denounced the rumours, but then, in the best tradition of Profumo Girl Mandy Rice-Davies, they would, wouldn't they."

His reasoning and logic is as sound now as it was then - and possibly even more so at present, considering Honda's highly disappointing 2007 season.

In addition, during his sabbatical, Ross spoke freely of his pastimes - rose growing and fishing - and his own (and, saliently, his wife Jean's) desire to return full-time to their beautiful home in Henley-on-Thames in Berkshire - just 70 kilometres (50-odd miles) from Honda's F1 base in Brackley.

Corporate and the sport politics, said to be anathema to Brawn, too, would likely fall outside Brawn's remit should he move to Honda, the BAT man said, particularly as Nick Fry, a corporate operator of the highest order and well equipped to attend to such duties after years at senior level within Ford, would continue as Honda F1 Racing Team's CEO.

For the last year or so many in the paddock, who were obviously unaware of Ross' burning desire to return to his motherland (for this reason, Toyota's and other overtures were given short shrift), had linked Brawn to a return to Ferrari - as replacement for Jean Todt, whose star was said to be exiting company president Luca di Montezemolo's orbit rather faster than Kimi Raikkonen managed to pedal his F2007 in Brazil.

This desire obviously played a major role - although the opportunity of heading up, for all intents and purposes, the most glamorous and highest profile division of the world's largest producer of engines (15 million produced per annum and counting) must have been particularly attractive to the dyed-in-the-wool engineer.

And thus, when Brawn's appointment as the Honda F1 Racing Team's team principal was announced earlier this week, it came as absolutely no surprise in these quarters.

What did surprise, though, was Fry's statement that one of his 'main tasks over the past six months has been to attract new talent to the Honda Racing F1 Team and we have made a number of key appointments in the areas of aerodynamics, design, engineering, marketing and on the racing team', with a recent media release from Honda alluding to Fry's 'a six month "terrier-like" pursuit of Ross'.

The obvious first question is: where was he around Monza 2006 time, and had he not heard the rumours being put about in his motorhome by the team's then-sponsors? For even the most cursory glance at a calendar shows that mid-September 2006 to mid-November 2007 totals 14 months.

Nick Fry and Jacky Eeckelaert © LAT

So, did negotiations really only commence in mid-May, or were the denials late last year merely smokescreens?

The next question surrounds Fry's discussions in June (note the timing) with long-time Brawn associate Nigel Stepney, and the latter's co-conspirator in the McLaren spying scandal, Mike Coughlan.

Fry admitted to these discussions during the build-up to the British Grand Prix, adding that he had previously been unaware of 'Stepneygate' as he had been in Japan on business.

So, did he on that occasion request permission from Honda's honchos in Japan to appoint Brawn, or the Stepney/Coughlan duo, or possibly even all three engineers? Whatever the permutation, it displays enormous commitment to the sport, and demonstrates clearly the team's intention to capture the title (a lot) sooner rather than (much) later.

Ross takes up his new role on November 26th - just three days after his 53rd birthday - too late, of course, to have any major influence on the 2008 car.

But sweeping changes to the way the Honda team go about their sporting, technical and manufacturing operations are sure to be announced at the RA-008's launch early next year, with Brawn's influence cascading down into all three areas as the upcoming season progresses.

Simultaneously, and likely not purely coincidentally, Ferrari announced a total management restructure, one which places Italians - with but one exception - firmly at the helm of a team that in real terms were Italian in name and location only.

Again, this is no surprise. During F1's August hiatus, a driver manager not too far removed from the Ferrari axis admitted to hearing rumbles that di Montezemolo considered the Gestione Sportiva too 'foreign', i.e. that too few Italians 'drove' the iconic racing division.

Obviously, then, the efforts of sporting director Jean Todt (French), then-resting former technical director Brawn (British), retired chief designer Rory Byrne (South African), ex-engine designer Osama Goto (Japanese) had been received somewhat reluctantly over the years as Ferrari rebuilt themselves.

But, the 'new' Ferrari, our source said, would be run by Italians for the greater glory of Italy - with the only problem being that there existed no Italian driver who could be considered top drawer material at present, but that di Montezemolo was hoping that situation would change in the not too distant future.

"The first step in this direction is the wholesale makeover of cars and clothes to better reflect Italy's colours," the driver manager said, "with the second being the departure of Todt, particularly if Kimi wins the championship, because then Luca will put it (the title) down to the efforts of (Aldo) Costa, (Mario) Almondo and (Stefano) Domenicali".

Who, in that case, would replace Gilles Simon - a Frenchman, who followed Todt to Italy from Peugeot where he, Simon, had designed the Le Mans-winning engines for the French team - as head of the engine division?

Gilles Simon on the podium at the 2007 British Grand Prix © LAT

"Oh, he will stay on in that position," said the driver manager. "The current engine was designed by an Italian (Paulo Martinelli), and with the FIA's engine freeze, how much has Simon actually contributed? As the lifespans and freezes of engines keep increasing, so his contribution decreases..."

And so it has come to pass: Monday's announcement has Domenicali taking over as Director of the Gestione Sportiva from Todt on January 1st. He will report directly to the patrician Montezemolo, with Almondo (Operations), Costa (Technical Director) and Simon (Engine Director) all reporting to Domenicali.

Now, what happens to Jean Todt come January? Could he be Toyota-bound?

Same, same but different

Back in September, during Friday's FIA press conference in Belgium, Renault team principal Flavio Briatore reacted rather indignantly when it was put to him by ITV commentator James Allen that the French outfit had been involved in similar shenanigans to those that had taken place between McLaren and Ferrari (or should that be Ferrari and McLaren?).

"First, if somebody tells me it's the same, I sue somebody, quickly. Second, it's not an investigation regarding myself and the team. Third, we give all the information to the Federation, at least when we found out something, and this is it. It's as simple as that," said Briatore.

On some counts the flamboyant Italian may have been right, but, as regards the investigation and the 'simplicity' of the matter he has, so far, been proven to be dead wrong - as the calling of a World Motor Sport Council Meeting on December 6th indicates.

Where he is correct, though, is that Renault's alleged situation - upon which the team have themselves expanded - is somewhat different, firstly because the instrument of intellectual property 'theft' was a box's worth of somewhat crude 3.5" floppy drive discs of the type most IT professionals have not seen in years.

Holding a maximum of 1.44mb - about the size of a single photograph taken by a cheap digital camera - even nine of these discs do not store much information. At least in the case of Mike Coughlan and Nigel Stepney, the main exchanges were conducted via 21st Century technology, to wit CD-Roms and SMS messages...

That, however, is not the major distinction between McLaren's situation and the allegations Renault are now facing. For that, look to the 'ongoing' nature of information from Ferrari to McLaren, whether it was ever put to use or not.

In McLaren's case the source was a high-ranking manager still employed by the team, one who had regular access to classified information and was able to constantly update the 'enemy'.

Renault detail © LAT

In the latest case, the ex-McLaren engineer, Phil Mackereth, had departed his former employers and moved across to the French team, so had no more to offer once the material on his original discs had been scrutinized. Incidentally, in the other spy scandal - that involving Ferrari and Toyota - a similar situation to Renault's prevailed.

Where Renault's case also differs from McLaren's is its timeframe: Renault's staff first became aware of the illicit information in Mackereth's possession in September 2006, yet took no action until exactly a year later - despite McLaren having at that stage been called to the dock (twice).

So, Briatore was quite correct when he said the allegations against his team were different to the McLaren case. But, whether the differences prove big enough to save Renault a hundred million bucks will be decided on December 6th, particularly as Briatore himself said in the week before the allegations broke:

"I said if you call the World Council, you have evidence that there is something wrong. If you don't have evidence, why would you call the World Council?

"If you call the World Council it is because you have the proof that McLaren need punishing. If you call the World Council and you don't have evidence, I don't know why you'd call them."