Brawn: 'Naive to think rule change would destabilize Mercedes'

Ross Brawn, Formula 1's new sporting director, is advocating a cautious approach when it comes to shaping the future of F1 to avoid any potentially dangerous disruptions.

Liberty Media has conveyed its readiness to transform F1's media assets, starting with relaxing the rules on social media, but a full frontal attack on the rules of the sport is out of the question, according to Brawn.

Case in point, the indication so far from pre-season that Mercedes remains the clear favourite for 2017 despite a regulations overhaul which forced everyone to start from a blank sheet.

"We expose ourselves whenever we make changes like this," explained Brawn in an interview with Sky Sports Ted Kravitz.

"Fingers crossed, it is going to work out but l think it is a good example of where we didn't go through the right principles to begin with.

"And if this was a principle to stop Mercedes winning, you could argue the exact contrary. A team that strong and with that resource will relish change.

"It was naïve to think it would destabilise Mercedes. If anything it gave them an advantage."

Referring to the recent collapse of Manor, Brawn also addressed the need for F1 to provide a better foundation to those competing at the other end of the grid.

"In the long run, we need to make sure more teams have the capability to compete," he said.

"At the bottom of the grid, the commercial consideration of the driver is much stronger than it is at the front of the grid.

"If we can put the smaller teams on a sounder footing then l think the whole sport will improve and you will get more Verstappens coming through than you do now."

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Working at the helm of F1 for thirty years, Brawn's only objective as a team leader then was to compete at a level where no one could rival the performance level of the outfit he managed.

By his own admittance, Brawn is a poacher turned gamekeeper, and his priority is precisely close racing.

"But we must not do it artificially and we must not penalise a team because they are doing an exceptional job.

"Someone has suggested that if a team is winning then they should have their development frozen until the rest catch up. The fans will just see straight through it and become disillusioned.

"There is quite a lot of inertia in F1 so it's going to be difficult to get it absolutely right but l think we can get a lot closer," Brawn concluded.

"It won't be perfect because F1 is a bit of an oil tanker so you nudge it but l hope we can get it going in the right direction."

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