Brawn to leave Mercedes

So it is official, Ross Brawn will say goodbye to the Mercedes team at the end of 2013. The news came through around 10:30 on Tuesday morning and I wasn't at all surprised. Brawn and the Mercedes team failed to reach an agreement on his role as team principle.

Brawn 58 wanted overall control of the team, but according to sources close to the team, that was never an option. Mercedes believe that the concept of a single team principle is outdated due to the complexity of the sport.

Mercedes will now be managed in tandem by executive directors Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe. The team hired Lowe from the position of technical director at McLaren, with the intention of him replacing Brawn as team principle. Plans changed however, the team said they wanted a slow transition. Brawn's departure follows months of discussions between himself and the team.

We all know the success that Ross Brawn has brought to all the teams he has been employed by, but where does this leave the 58 year old? The answer is unclear, my guess is possibly a year break from the sport. Many linked him to a move with McLaren as Honda return to the team from 2015. This is thought unlikely by some insiders, saying he became frustrated with aspects of Honda who ran the team in 2007 and 2008. One aspect in particular was repeated trips to Japan. But Honda will supply engines to McLaren, not run the team. I believe that Ross Brawn would fit into McLaren rather well, but in which position, I'm not entirely sure.

Speaking to Sky Sports at the Indian Grand Prix Brawn said he would like to remain in F1, “I still enjoy Formula 1 very much. It has it's ups and downs and for someone like me it’s unique, I enjoy it very much and I hope that answers your question.”

He has also been linked with a possible move to Williams to join Pat Symonds, I've also heard possible links to the FIA in a senior position. The truth is we can only speculate as we don't know for sure. What we can say however is whichever team he joins, will enjoy one of the most successful technical masters in the sports history.

Brawn's Championship winning cars
Benetton – Michael Schumacher – 1994 – 1995
Ferrari – Michael Schumacher – 2000 – 2001 – 2002 – 2003 – 2004
Brawn GP – Jenson Button – 2009

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Once again thanks to Kevin Bennett for sending photos to accompany this report.