Ross Brawn to become Honda team principal!

ben_watkins · Post 12 Nov 2007, 11:02

According to the BBC, Honda will announce today that Ross Brawn will become their team principal!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 090180.stm

This leaves Nick Fry still as chief exec, but Brawn will have free reign to run the team as he sees fit..

Stepney and Coughlan were lined up to join Honda too weren't they before the Stepneygate scandal...

axle · Post 12 Nov 2007, 11:14

If this is confirmed later I see it this way...

Stepney was favoured by Brawn, Brawn was unhappy with the way Ferrari f**ked him over (which led to him being so dissatisfied that he leaked info and looked for a nother job). Because of this Brawn and Todt have fallen out, so I kinda expected Brawn to look elsewhere...after all, what more could he achieve at Ferrari??

Good luck to RB, hope he gets the free reign he needs to sort the team out.

RH1300S · Post 12 Nov 2007, 11:24

That idea has made sense for many months now - I would like to see him there. It seems like a very good fit. Honda have the potential and the budget, but need direction. Brawn can give them that and would be working with a team of the "right" profile - imagine being the guy that developed Honda into a championship team.........that, I should imagine, would appeal to him.

I can't imagine that there is any chance Stepney will arrive on the doorstep with a full filing cabinet anytime soon though.

It still leaves them sorely in need of some serious design talent - bring back Willis.

axle · Post 12 Nov 2007, 12:15

RH1300S wrote:That idea has made sense for many months now - I would like to see him there. It seems like a very good fit. Honda have the potential and the budget, but need direction. Brawn can give them that and would be working with a team of the "right" profile - imagine being the guy that developed Honda into a championship team.........that, I should imagine, would appeal to him.

I can't imagine that there is any chance Stepney will arrive on the doorstep with a full filing cabinet anytime soon though.

It still leaves them sorely in need of some serious design talent - bring back Willis.

I don't think Willis was the "design talent" I thought he was the systems and getting it all to work man. That's why he's working with Newey...to make a fast car less fragile.

It will take till mid season for Brawn to have any affect on the team (other than motivational) just like Willis at RedBull took quite a few months to achieve a real upturn in reliability at RB (which there was and that led them to nearly get Williams in the constructors title).

I do hope this gets Honda back on track.

checkered · Post 12 Nov 2007, 12:29

I hope Ross

can help Honda achieve success not only in the near, but also in the long term, i.e. find out how the team can continually regenerate itself so that it remains competitive. Some teams peak and then gradually vanish from the scene, some teams have staying power. It's not all about financial prowess either, it's a more delicate affair. I'll be interested to see how the Honda F1 organisation will evolve from now on, and how and what kind of people the team will bring in after this.

mahesh248 · Post 12 Nov 2007, 13:19

God has saved Jenson button

johny · Post 12 Nov 2007, 13:28

It's official!

http://www.f1technical.net/news/7602

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_ ... t_id=33384

ben_watkins · Post 12 Nov 2007, 13:33

mahesh248 wrote:God has saved Jenson button

LOL, God needs to help out the Honda design/aero/engine/managment team to do that!

monkeyboy1976 · Post 12 Nov 2007, 14:18

Is Rubens confirmed as a race driver for 2008?
If not, I cannot find it, then this might be a good reason for FA to go to Honda?

axle · Post 12 Nov 2007, 14:30

Officially Rubens is contracted for 2008...but then they have Super Aguri to bully about

I'd personally prefer someone else in Ruben's seat as he's had his chance, let a younger guy like Klein, Luizzi etc in, rather than subject us to another year of old hand mediocrity. He's never had what it takes, just like Ralf, and so both should hang up their F1 boots.

Speaking of Ralf I was delighted to read that Gascoigne will quit if VJ gives Ralf a drive!

I can't see Honda getting FA...unless FA is willing to put in a few years of effort in the also rans before Honda can challenge again.

Scuderia_Russ · Post 12 Nov 2007, 14:37

axle wrote:let a younger guy like Klein, Luizzi etc in.

You had been talking a lot of sense up until this point!

axle · Post 12 Nov 2007, 14:42

Scuderia_Russ wrote:
axle wrote:let a younger guy like Klein, Luizzi etc in.
You had been talking a lot of sense up until this point!

lol - well they are younger....klein at least knows the car!

wxavier007 · Post 12 Nov 2007, 14:45

Double crossing Ferrari?

ben_watkins · Post 12 Nov 2007, 15:22

This all comes on a day that sees Jean Todt step down as F1 boss at Ferrari to be replaced by Stefano Domenicali.. The same job Ross Brawn always wanted..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsp ... 090726.stm

Hmmm something else to this story I believe..

donskar · Post 12 Nov 2007, 17:37

Brawn to Honda is good news for F1 in general - leading in 1-2 seasons to another strong competitive team at the front of the grid. And the moves at Ferrari could pull them back toward the field. Promoting from within provides the continuity that has been a key to their success, but it raises key questions:

Can Domenicali replace Todt? Huge shoes to fill!

And who replaced Costa as chief designer?

And how many Ferrari personnel will Todt lure away to Honda?

(What WILL Todt be doing?)