As I write this we still wait on official confirmation but it does look like the team formerly known as Honda F1 has been saved by a management buyout.
Few would argue with Ross Brawn's skills as a Techinical Director after the success he enjoyed during his time at Benetton and Ferrari, but how will he fair as Team Principle of the team once they're free of Honda Japan's control? No-one can really answer this question, I personally suspect he'll be rather good and lead the team back towards the front of the grid. But who is Ross Brawn?
Ross was born in 1954 in Manchester, Lancashire (we can't hold that against him) and attended Reading Grammar School. He later trained as an engineer with UK Atomic Energy Authority where he studied instrumentation.
His F1 career started when after joining March Engineering in 1976 he was hired by Frank Williams in 1978 to work for his newly formed Williams F1 team. Over the next few years Ross worked for teams including Haas Lola and Arrows before being hired by Jaguar in 1989 to work in their sports car racing division. Ross was instrumental in the design of the Jaguar XJR-14 cars which won the World Sportscar Championship in 1991.
Later that same year Ross moved back into F1 and joined the Benetton Team as Technical Director and his here that he first worked with Michael Schumacher between his time at Benetton and later at Ferrari Ross Brawn was a key member of the team that helped Schumacher win his 7 World Drivers Titles.
After taking a year off from the sport in 2007 Ross returned to F1 to try and rebuild the beleagured Honda F1 team. A rebuilding year followed in 2008 whilst the team prepared for 2009, with much anticipation that the RA109 would be a race winner. Fate would deal the team a bitter blow as Honda Japan announced the team's withdrawal from Formula 1. A tense winter followed and only a trivkle of information has leaked out until recent days when reports have started to emerge that a Management Buyout led by Ross Brawn will go ahead.
Hopefully we will see confirmation of this in the coming days.
Good luck to Ross, Jenson and all the people at Brackley...
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