Brawn: No choice but to buy Honda

[John S]

Well he may have had no choice in taking over the team but keeping Nick Fry in place at the top seems a step beyond for me.

I wonder what goods Mr Fry has on everyone.


By Mark Glendenning and Jonathan Noble Today Autosport.com

Ross Brawn says there was 'no choice' but for him to lead a buyout of Honda Racing, after admitting that the team would have had no Formula One future if he had not done so.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the creation of Brawn GP, the highly respected F1 figure said that he had no hesitation in taking on the challenge of being a team owner because it was the only chance the outfit had.

When asked during a media briefing at the Circuit de Catalunya if he felt he was taking a risk in getting involved in team ownership, Brawn said: "If I am frank, there were no choices.

"If the management group, because it is not just myself, had not taken this task on, there would be no team. Then all of the staff would have been made redundant. So, this gives us an opportunity.

"It wasn't a difficult choice in that respect. Things can go wrong, but we are optimistic and if we can capitalize on the performance of the car, and the car looks good, then I think the team have got a future. If the car was poor then we only have ourselves to blame."

Brawn used the opportunity of his first press conference to confirm that the management structure of the team remains unchanged despite his takeover.

"If we hadn't stayed together as a group, myself, Nick Fry, Nigel Kerr, Caroline McGrory, John Marsden, if we hadn't stayed together it would have been very difficult to achieve because there have been some very black days in trying to keep this team alive," he said. "I'm glad to say here we are and we are going to Melbourne, so it is fantastic."

Brawn also clarified that, as autosport.com reported, Fry would remain with the team.

"Nick has been a key member of the team. He retains his position as CEO and will be a vital member for the future. Nick's position hasn't changed, despite the speculation, and he has been a vital part of putting this all together."

Although the team have overcome the major hurdle in securing their short-term future, Brawn admits that longer term the outfit will need added sponsorship and investment.

He said the budget was in place for the 2009 season, but more would be needed for beyond that.

He also made it clear that the white, yellow and black colour scheme being used so far was not indicative of any sponsors they had lined up.

"It is just, how do I describe it, a benign neutral colour scheme that leaves plenty of potential for the future," he explained. "Now we have got over the first hurdle of securing the medium term of the team, we now have to look at the long term and try and find partners and sponsors to support the team.

"We are completely flexible on what we do in the future, but I hope we will have proper long term planning and proper structure for the team going forward."

[Scott]

  is right...

I'm surprised, but on the other hand, Fry likely has a contract, and to be fair, perhaps he was valuable in making it happen.  Still, it is called 'BrawnGP', so it is clear who will be making the decisions, whatever letters they choose to put after Nick's name.

It's remarkable that he takes credit for the car design, whether it comes good or not.  I'm excited for them, I hope they do well (and then change drivers next year...I can hear the rumours now - 'Alonzo seen having lunch with Ross').

I wonder where they got their budget from.

[Dare]

I'm happy for Brawn GP as I think this is about
as close to a private team as were likely to
see in F1.