Ross Brawn Contemplates F1 Retirement

Ross Brawn might not have the same influence over his Mercedes GP Formula One team next year as he did in 2010. That is the assumption made by Italy's Autosprint magazine, whose reporters hinted that the Brackley based team will face a restructuring process prior to the upcoming campaign, Brawn's role being one of the targets.

The man who practically turned the defunct Honda F1 Racing team into a title-winning squad during the course of last season has started to contemplate on retirement once again, if we are to take his word on it. In Korea, when asked by the journalists about his future role with Mercedes GP, he said he wants to continue working with the German manufacturer “but maybe not have to come to 20-odd races every year.”

From that comment only, one can realize that his focus will no longer be to manage the entire team, but maybe take care of a particular area of the business. Most probably, he'll switch to a more technical role within the team, which leaves us with a big question mark for the team manager role for 2011.

Since winning the title last year, the Brackley based organization has been struggling in terms of performance in F1, which led to some rumors that Brawn and Mercedes' motorsport boss Norbert Haug don't see eye to eye anymore. Of course, no official dispute has surfaced in the media until this point, but tension does seem to build up inside the Mercedes GP garage.

This is not the first time Brawn contemplates the thought of retirement, as it happened before right after his “golden era” at Ferrari. After winning more than 10 titles – manufacturers and drivers – with the Scuderia in the late 90s and early to mid 2000s, Brawn took a sabbatical from F1 and later returned as team manager of Honda F1 Racing (in 2008).