Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has said his predecessor Ross Brawn would have his vote if the wished to return to Formula One in some capacity. Ross who is the former technical head of Ferrari was the principal head of the Honda team before taking it over when the Japanese company pulled out in 2008.
Toto Wolff told reporters after Mexican Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday, “He has been there forever, he has the right distance from any team after being away a couple of years,” “If I need to underwrite Ross coming back in a leadership function in Formula One, he has my vote.”
However, Brawn recently said that he had no interest in working for a team again but indicated that he could be tempted to help the sport as a whole.
While speaking to Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper in an interview published last week he said: “Trying to help F1 become a better F1 would be appealing. It would be the one thing that could be interesting,” he added “If you ask me what F1 needs, it needs a plan; a three-year and a five-year plan. My view is we haven’t got the ideal structure for creating that plan and implementing it over time.”
Brawn whose book is slated to release in Britain next Thursday has already created a lot of buzz in the market for his comments about his departure from Mercedes and how he felt a lack of trust from Wolff and the non-executive chairman Niki Lauda. Wolff whose team is already on a high with winning three constructors and drivers championships in a row since Brawn left said those comments have already been cleared up.
Wolff said: “There was lots of controversy around the book he has written, and succession and transition are never easy,” he said. “It’s a delicate matter.”For me this is no problem, and actually, we’ve been in touch and he has said some quite nice things about us not dropping the ball, and the relationship is intact.”
Brawn,61, has been linked to a possible role in Formula One under new owners Liberty Media who took over the sport in September in technical or management areas. Wolff said about Brawn “Ross has huge experience, has the right personality, the technical knowledge of potentially playing an important part in Formula One going forward.”
