Brawn: Mercedes deal gives us a strong future

Ross Brawn admits that he has no concerns about selling the F1 team that carries his name to Mercedes, with the deal set to secure the long-term future of the Brackley-based squad.

Having taken over the team from Honda when the Japanese manufacturer quit the sport, Brawn oversaw a stunning campaign that ended with double championship glory before the announcement earlier this week that Mercedes was to take a controlling stake in the team.

While that deal will mean the Brawn GP name disappears after just a single year, Brawn said he had no regrets about the decision which would secure the future of the team and work for those employees who remained following the Honda withdrawal.

"As I said to the staff, it's sad to see the team only in existence for a year, but what a year!" he said in an interview with the Independent. "We've had a wonderful time, and in many ways it was a difficult decision, but now we've joined the most prestigious brand in the automotive world."

"At some stage as a team owner you have to pass it on. I'm almost 55 and I'm not planning to do a Bernie [Ecclestone]. It was tempting to try to repeat this year's success but it would have been an awful risk. We were already working with Mercedes' engine group and all the stars aligned. It was an opportunity to give the team a very strong future."

Brawn admitted that team ownership had been the last thing on his mind when he and Nick Fry were called into a meeting with Honda bosses twelve months ago and said he didn't regret the decision taken as it prevented him from possibly exiting F1 on a low.

"We were very apologetically informed that the [Honda] board had decided they couldn't continue in Formula One," he said. "Nick and I spent the rest of the day working out how we could turn out the lights and shut the doors in the fairest possible way to all our people – over 800 in the UK alone. We had no notion that we might continue, but that was a subject we broached once we'd recovered from the initial shock. Could we keep it going? It didn't look very sensible, but at the same time, we hadn't really understood the huge costs of closing a company.

"Formula One showed a benevolent side that isn't always apparent to people, but the great thing about motor racing is that it's a club, and although most of the time you're trying to beat each other by whatever means possible, in dire times the club comes together very well.

"Of course, it's possible that our poor performance in 2008 confirmed to Honda that they shouldn't continue, which was frustrating, because I didn't want to finish my Formula One career at the end of 2008, the worst championship I'd had for 15 years. And I knew we had a race-winning car for 2009."

Brawn meanwhile is also reported by the German publication Auto Motor und Sport to have said that he is in 'no rush' to formalise a driver line-up for the 2010 season following the departure of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, stating that it would be 'stupid' to make a quick decision and that a slot with Mercedes was the 'most attractive seat on the market'.

Schumacher Never drive with us - Mercedes

Mercedes has played down speculation in the international media that Michael Schumacher will be driving for the newly-branded outfit next year. The 7-time World Champion, who drove for the German marque in sports cars before making his Formula 1
debut in 1991, had been linked with a full-time seat ahead of the 2010 season.

With Brawn GP becoming Mercedes GP and World Champion Jenson Button moving to McLaren, Schumacher has been tipped by several F1 insiders as the ideal team-mate to compatriot Nico Rosberg, who is also yet to be signed up for next year. Despite admitting that the possibility would be 'a dream', however, the silver arrows have revealed that a link-up with Schumacher will not happen.

"It's clear that there will always be speculation as long as one cockpit is still free," a spokesman for Mercedes, as quoted by Reuters, said on Saturday, "and some speculations are nothing but dreams which will not come true."

A notable believer of a Schumacher deal was former team owner and BBC television pundit Eddie Jordan who, like F1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone, believed that a deal may already be in place. With the smart money firmly on Rosberg, though, fellow countryman Nick Heidfeld is seemingly a likely candidate for the second seat.

Jose Maria Lopez drive USF1 for next season

Argentine driver lopez signed a deal with USF1 and providing he is able to an $8m Sponsership package. Starting off in the formula Renault 2000 Eurocup in 2001, aged 18 lopez progressed to the formula Renault V6 Eurocup 2003,having won the Italian Formula Renault in 2002.
In 2004 he is contested F300 With CMS in addiction to the V6 Eurocup and enven an outing in the FIA GT Chmpionship with the DAMS lamborghini team. 2005 he is drive with the DAMS in GP2 and swiched to supernova for 200, And he is raced American le Mans serias in 2007 before returing to argentina to take part TC 2000, 2008 he is won country touring championship.

Michael Schumacher comeback into Formula 1 2010 season

Mercedes are in secret talks with Michael Schumacher in an attempt to lure him into an astonishing Formula One comeback.

It has emerged that Schumacher was sounded out by team principal Ross Brawn in Abu Dhabi three weeks ago — underlining why Jenson Button, who left for McLaren on Wednesday, felt driven out by the putative all-German line-up of Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.

It is understood that Brawn and Schumacher have remained in regular contact since, and that Schumacher could even agree terms in the next week.
Michael Schumacher

Comeback king? Schumacher

Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan, who witnessed the initial talks, went public with information confirmed by other sources, by saying: ‘The possibility is being actively pursued and I believe it is going to happen. It started with a meeting between Michael, Ross Brawn and Daimler chief executive officer Dieter Zetsche at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

‘At the moment, it is not possible for Michael to drive for Mercedes because he has a consultancy contract with Ferrari.

‘But I understand he was due to meet Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo with a view to him being released and that it will be approved because it is in the interests of F1.’

Schumacher was tempted to replace the injured Felipe Massa last season, only to withdraw because of a serious neck complaint. His willingness to return, for next to no money, was a gauge of how much he is missing his old life.

Yesterday his spokeswoman Sabine Kehm said: ‘I am aware of the speculation about the “possibilities” of Michael returning.

What I can say is that Michael enjoys his life and, therefore, I see those “possibilities” being unlikely at the moment.’

Unlikely — for the moment — but far from impossible. After all, 24 hours before he agreed to stand in for Massa, his manager ruled out a comeback ‘200 per cent’.

Joining Mercedes holds obvious attractions for all concerned. At a personal level, Schumacher was guided to all of his titles by Brawn during their associations at Benetton and Ferrari, and they remain close.

On a professional level, Schumacher was once part of the Mercedes young driver programme. The carmakers then tried to lure him back when they held a stake in McLaren. It is a sign of their affection for him as a German icon and a global brand. They know he would conclusively offset the flak they received for ‘losing’ Button, the world champion, earlier this week.

He would additionally bring practical benefits, not least as a role model and technical guru for Rosberg, 24, who is firmly believed to have signed for Mercedes already.

There are drawbacks, though. Schumacher might also have some explaining to do to his wife, Corinna, and their two young children.

Whereas filling in for Massa would only have been a short-term arrangement, Mercedes want to engage him for a full season. It takes a bigger commitment all round.

So, can his family save him from himself after three years in retirement?

Probably not. Would his neck even be mended enough? Possibly not, but he might be prepared to gamble on his health for another crack at his life-defining thrill.

As for money, it is unlikely to be a block. Sure, Mercedes say they are sticking to a strict budget but, with Schumacher having £500million in the bank, cash hardly counts.

At Mercedes Grand Prix yesterday, nobody would confirm that Schumacher is on their agenda. They do not wish to be rash at this delicate stage. Ditto in Stuttgart, home of the German marque, where silence prevailed.

It was left to Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s commercial supremo, to say: ‘It would be fabulous for the sport.’ You can bet he is bringing his vast influence to bear behind the scenes to make it happen. He knows the accounts would hardly be hurt by having the weltmeister back at the wheel.

For this observer, though, it is a bitter-sweet prospect. Who cannot be titillated by Schumacher up against McLaren’s British golden pairing of Button and Lewis Hamilton? And won’t it be fun to see him try for an eighth title?

But he will be 41 by the time the season starts. His neck is dicky. The car is far from a guaranteed magic carpet. Some of us would prefer to remember him at his peak, when he was peerless.