Ross Brawn, team principal of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 and the man who was instrumental in Michael Schumacher’s success in F1, has confirmed his retirement from Formula One for good. The 59-year old has also refuted claims that he may join the newly resurrected McLaren F1 team, and opt to spend more time on his favorite past time – fishing.
“What they didn’t realize when I was invited here was they had a scoop because the world’s press was trying to find out if I was retiring or not,” Brawn said, according to British media when he was seen at a fishing event in Aberdeenshire. “This is the busiest time of the year for F1 and I said I would come along and open the River Dee. If they had put two and two together they would have realized I was definitely retiring.”
Brawn confirmed he is not joking and said “I’m retiring – it’s not tongue in cheek. I’m going to take a year to enjoy the fishing and then see what life brings. I’m looking forward to it, but, I’ve got no other plans.”
Ross Brawn began his illustrious F1 career as a milling machine operator at March Engineering in 1976, where two years later he was hired by Williams where he gained his experience as an engineer. He is the man who masterminded Michael Schumacher’s glorious years in both Benetton and Ferrari from 1994-2006, until he was hired by Honda as team principal at the end of 2007.
Subsequently Honda quit the sport, forcing Brawn to purchase the majority shares of the team and renamed as Brawn GP – knowing that the car they developed for the F1 2009 is a race winning machine. In 2009, Brawn GP won the 2009 Formula One World Constructors’ Championship and one of its drivers, Jenson Button, won the World Drivers’ Championship – making the only team in F1 to win both titles on its debutant year. The following year, Mercedes bought the team for £110m and retained Brawn as team principal. He remained there until the end of the 2013 season.
After almost four decades living in the fast lane in F1, he’s decided to live at a slower pace to enjoy his next love – fishing. Our best wishes to you Ross, and happy retirement!
[source: GPUpdate]
