Friday, Nov 01, 2013
Abu Dhabi: Former Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton believes life will go on with or without the leadership of team boss Ross Brawn.
Speculation on Brawn’s position had been rife since early this year following the entry last winter of Paddy Lowe — formerly technical director of McLaren — first with the intention of immediately replacing Brawn.
However, plans then changed a bit with Mercedes opting for a soft transition thus allowing the 58-year-old Brawn to stay in control of his own destiny with the German team. Since then, Mercedes and Brawn have been in talks, and the latest is that the two parties have failed to reach an agreement on a role in which the British engineer would have been happy within the set-up.
“As individuals, we have to make the right decisions for ourselves and we have to respect whatever choices he [Brawn] wants to make for himself,” Hamilton told media here on the confirmation that Brawn will be leaving his position as Mercedes team principal at the end of this season.
Both Mercedes and Brawn have so far refused to comment on the latest developments, making way for the team to be run in tandem by its two executive directors Toto Wolff and Lowe along with non-executive chairman and former world champion Niki Lauda.
It has been Lauda who has been trying to get Brawn to remain in the team, but the stumbling block has always been the level of authority the British boss would have given the changes in the set-up.
As during his previous terms with Benetton and Ferrari — where he masterminded Michael Schumacher’s seven world titles — Brawn wanted to continue having overall charge. The last instance of this tiff emerged during the Japanese Grand Prix last month with Mercedes reflecting that that option had never been open due to the belief that a single-team principal is an outdated concept.
Mercedes has tried to convince Brawn that his experience could help the team in another role that did not involve day-to-day running of the outfit. But the latest has been the impasse between the two parties, leaving Brawn with very few options but walk away.
The 2008 world champion Hamilton did not make too much out of the situation, in fact, preferring to look at a more optimistic future for the team he has been with for less than a year now. “There are a lot of great people on the team and I think the team will be strong either way. I really look forward to see what we can do next year as a team,” the 28-year-old British driver said.
By Alaric Gomes Senior Reporter
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