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Upon learning of Ross Brawn's move to Honda, I confess that my first reaction was to ponder - yet once more - on the foolishness (and more) of Nigel Stepney. For all his bitterness and delusions of grandeur, had he trod the straight and narrow at Maranello for one more year, he might be in the pound seats now to work again with his former boss. Whatever we think of Stepney, and the chaos he and Mike Coughlan have wrought on Formula 1, there was never any doubt about his abilities as a chief mechanic. During Stepney's time at Ferrari, Michael Schumacher won five world championships on the trot, and the level of consistent reliability achieved by the team was staggering. Even his most avowed critic would hesitate to dispute that Stepney's contribution to this was other than considerable: Ferrari may have 'won' the constructors' championship again in 2007, but by their standards reliability was notably less impressive than before. While Brawn - whom Stepney reveres - was at Ferrari, all was reasonably well, but once Ross had decided on a sabbatical, on a year of family life and fishing, his colleague, while perhaps not expecting to succeed him as technical director, clearly anticipated serious promotion. When this failed to materialise - and when the previously little known Mario Almondo was named as Brawn's successor - Stepney was incensed, and thus began the train of events that have so disfigured the sport this year. © 2020 Autosport
In the magazine: Wheldon the Lionheart In AUTOSPORT magazine this week, we reflect on the life of Dan Wheldon with those who knew him best, and remember the day, just a month before his death, when he showed off IndyCar's staircase of talent Mag 
MPH: Mark Hughes on... A law that invariably applies in racing: the genie will not go back into the bottle once released F1 
MPH: Mark Hughes on... Competitors entering motorsport are getting ever-younger - but are even the youngest missing out on a crucial age in physiological development? F1 
MPH: Mark Hughes on... So, team orders failed to secure the world championship for Fernando Alonso. But neither he, nor the Ferrari team, can function happily – or truly effectively – any other way F1
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Why F1’s overdue Portugal return matters Portugal has been the scene of high drama across many eras in Formula 1, says BEN EDWARDS, which is why the return of the Portuguese Grand Prix is something to be savoured F1 
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