Brawn not planning to hang up on F1 despite retirement

Ross Brawn might have decided to retire following his six year spell as Formula 1's director of motorsport, but he insists that he'll always be available to his former colleagues if they need any advice or support in the suture.

Brawn is one of the most iconic behind-the-scenes figures in motorsport, ever since arriving in F1 with March Engineering in 1976. In 1991 he became technical director at Benetton and oversaw Michael Schumacher's first two drivers titles.

He then followed Schumacher to Ferrari and was an integral part of the team management alongside team principal Jean Todt and chief designer Rory Byrne during its dominance of the sport, and five more titles for Schumacher.

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Brawn left Ferrari at the end of 2006 and ended up being team principal of the eponymous Brawn GP when it won the title in 2009. Brawn GP then became Mercedes with Brawn himself continuing to guide then team until 2014.

Originally planning to retire, Brawn instead found himself snapped up by F1's new owners Liberty Media in 2017 to help overhaul the sport. With that work now largely done, he insists that this time he really is retiring for good.

But while he won't play any official or full-time role, that doesn't mean he's turning his back on the sport or his many friends and colleagues in it such as F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.

"I'll keep a little bit of interest," he told Motorsport.com this week. "Stefano is a very good friend, and as I said to him my phone is always switched on.

"If there's anything I can help with - and it doesn't absorb too much of my time - I'd be only too pleased to be able to help, but it will be very much an advisory role rather than an active role."

Having turned 68 in November with five decades of F1 under his belt, Brawn says he is looking forward to enjoying the sport from a purely fan and spectator perspective.

"It's a wonderful sport and it's this amazing combination of technology and driving talent," he said, proud of his recent work to improve the on-track racing spectacle and make a level playing field for the teams.

"You can have great drivers in rubbish cars and average drivers in brilliant cars, and sometimes brilliant drivers in brilliant cars, and the fact that it changes so much during the season.

"If you look at most sports - if you look at athletics or tennis – someone tends to be at the top of the tree, and unless they have an off day it's very difficult for anyone to beat them.

"This sport, you might be winning – and I know we've had periods of domination – then someone comes up and makes a lot of progress with the car and suddenly you're not winning.

"We have that dynamic going on all the time, and different tracks," he pointed out. "So I think it's a unique sport and I'm just so pleased to see the passion that's grown after, quite honestly, the sport was in the doldrums for a few years."

"We need to preserve this and protect this passion that's grown," he added. "We mustn't forget what we've done to get there and make sure we keep progressing.

"But I'm sailing off into the sunset," he stated emphatically. "And I'm really pleased – delighted – with where Formula 1 is today."

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