29/10/2013
NEWS STORY
Following weeks of speculation, and denial by all parties, Ross Brawn is to leave Mercedes at the end of the 2013 season.
In the absence of an official statement from the team, it is understood the Englishman made the decision after failing to reach a suitable agreement with the Brackley outfit.
It is believed that the team will now see Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe essentially take charge of the Brackley squad with Niki Lauda maintaining his role as non-executive chairman.
Brawn's role was always under threat once Lowe was recruited from McLaren and despite assurances that he would remain with the team many saw his departure as being a case of 'when' rather than 'if'.
The move sees Lowe concentrating on the technical side of the team while Wolff runs the business side of things.
While Brawn has been linked with a number of projects including Honda, some feel the Englishman, who has won titles with Benetton, Ferrari and his own team, and amassed a healthy retirement pot after selling the Brawn (formerly Honda) team to Mercedes, might opt to quietly retire.
However, other than Honda, the British veteran has been linked with McLaren and Williams, both teams keen to revive their race and title winning form. On the other hand, with his vast experience, not only in technical aspects of the sport, but also management, he could yet find a role with the FIA.
As recently as Friday, Brawn admitted that there was something in the air, despite the fact that Lauda and the teams two drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, apparently wanted him to stay. "There is a transition going on," he said. "We're just determining what will be the best timing for that.
"I want the team to be in the best possible place for next year," he continued, "so I think when the time is right we'll let everyone know what we're doing. But at the present time that's all I want to say on the matter."
Speaking at Suzuka, Lauda said: "There's no decision on how things will be in the long term. My goal is to retain him, but he will only make the decision at the end of the year."
In the meantime, Pitpass continues to hear stories emanating from Germany that Stuttgart is giving the team a very limited time frame in which to prove itself.