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By Ron Dennis
#24020
From the BBC website:-

The struggling Honda team are poised to announce a major coup by appointing former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn as their team principal.

The 52-year-old Englishman is to be confirmed in his new role on Monday, BBC Sport has learnt, with Nick Fry continuing as chief executive.

Brawn was the technical mastermind behind Ferrari's unprecedented success in the first half of this decade.

He will be expected to turn Honda from underachievers into a major force.

It is Brawn's first role as team principal, but few inside F1 doubt he will be a success in the position - as long as Honda's management in Japan allow him free reign to run the team.

Brawn joins at the end of the worst season in Honda's modern history.

The team produced one of the most uncompetitive cars on the grid this season, with Jenson Button managing only six points and the veteran former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello failing to score any at all.

That was despite Button giving the team their first win of the modern era in Hungary in 2006.

Brawn joining the team will be a huge reassurance to Button, who said at the weekend he would not tolerate another season of underachievement.

"The car was a complete dog, and I'm just not interested in racing like this any more," Button said.

"I'd love to win the title with Honda but I've got to start winning, and if I don't then I have to be ruthless."


Brawn became synonymous with Schumacher's success
However, Brawn will not be able to turn the team around overnight.

Next year's Honda car has already been designed, and he will be focusing his initial efforts on reorganising the team to ensure it is competitive in 2009.

Nevertheless, it is to be expected that his impact will begin to be felt as the 2008 season progresses.

Brawn is hugely highly rated in F1, where he became synonymous with Michael Schumacher.

The two were together at Benetton in the early 1990s, winning back-to-back world titles in 1994 and 1995, before both moved to Ferrari in 1996.

Their arrival marked a dramatic upturn in the Italian team's fortunes, turning them into world beaters after years in the doldrums.

Schumacher finally ended Ferrari's 21-year run without a drivers' title in 2000, the first of five championships in a row.

Brawn took a sabbatical from F1 following Schumacher's retirement at the end of 2006, and has been in demand by Red Bull and Toyota as well as Honda.

Fry is rumoured to have been chasing Brawn since last spring, but Ferrari had first call on his services.

Brawn began talks with his former team in the summer but he was unable to agree a deal to become their team principal.

Now those negotiations have failed, he has decided to take on a challenge that will be at least the equal of that he undertook at Ferrari - and Honda will hope he is able to have a similar effect on them.


Great news for Honda and a slap in the face for Ferrari.

With the Englishman at the helm I foresee good times ahead for the Honda team. I predicted this some time back on another site and was laughed at by Ferrari fans who said that if Ross came back, he'd only want to work for one team.

Anyway, this is great news and I hope the dawn of a serious WDC push from Button and Honda.
By Ron Dennis
#24021
The struggling Honda team have secured a major coup by appointing former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn as their new team principal.

The 52-year-old Englishman was confirmed in his new role on Monday with Nick Fry continuing as chief executive of the team.

Brawn was the technical mastermind behind Ferrari's unprecedented success in the first half of this decade.

He will be expected to turn Honda from underachievers into a major force.

It is Brawn's first role as team principal, but few inside F1 doubt he will be a success in the position - as long as Honda's management in Japan allow him free reign to run the team.

Brawn joins at the end of the worst season in Honda's modern history.


The team produced one of the most uncompetitive cars on the grid this season, with Jenson Button managing only six points and the veteran former Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello failing to score any at all.

That was despite Button giving the team their first win of the modern era in Hungary in 2006.

Brawn joining the team will be a huge reassurance to Button, who said at the weekend he would not tolerate another season of underachievement.

"The car was a complete dog, and I'm just not interested in racing like this any more," Button said.

"I'd love to win the title with Honda but I've got to start winning, and if I don't then I have to be ruthless."


Brawn became synonymous with Schumacher's success
However, Brawn will not be able to turn the team around overnight.

Next year's Honda car has already been designed, and he will be focusing his initial efforts on reorganising the team to ensure it is competitive in 2009.

Nevertheless, it is to be expected that his impact will begin to be felt as the 2008 season progresses.

Brawn is hugely highly rated in F1, where he became synonymous with Michael Schumacher.

The two were together at Benetton in the early 1990s, winning back-to-back world titles in 1994 and 1995, before both moved to Ferrari in 1996.

Their arrival marked a dramatic upturn in the Italian team's fortunes, turning them into world beaters after years in the doldrums.

Schumacher finally ended Ferrari's 21-year run without a drivers' title in 2000, the first of five championships in a row.

Brawn took a sabbatical from F1 following Schumacher's retirement at the end of 2006, and has been in demand by Red Bull and Toyota as well as Honda.

Fry is rumoured to have been chasing Brawn since last spring, but Ferrari had first call on his services.

Brawn began talks with his former team in the summer but he was unable to agree a deal to become their team principal.

Now those negotiations have failed, he has decided to take on a challenge that will be at least the equal of that he undertook at Ferrari - and Honda will hope he is able to have a similar effect on them.


It is official

check out the Honda site for the announcement

http://www.hondaracingf1.com/hiband/
User avatar
By 8-ball
#24023
this is great news for Honda but I don't expect him to make an immediate impact. Adrian Newey didn't make the impact that was expected in his 1st year with RBR. This is good news for Honda but especially Jenson
User avatar
By bud
#24024
great news for Button, maybe Honda can lure Alonso now?
Funny that Honda met with Stepney and Coughlan and we know Stepney was close with Brawn maybe the fax shop boy spoiled a Honda 3 way engineering coupe that was to be announced with Brawn? just a thought ;)

Ron good call, id be rubbing that one in their faces for a while yet ;) afterall the Ferrari fans are more passionate and know more than the rest of us F1 fans!
User avatar
By scotty
#24025
This is great news as far as i'm concerned!

Hopefully Button can get a few more wins out of his career with the help of Ross Brawn.
By Ron Dennis
#24027
Well the 2008 car is built so we need to look for 09 to see the Brawn effect
User avatar
By raithrover
#24028
A great move by Honda and hopefully a major step towards being competitive. Good news for the team, their fans and F1 as a whole. I'm sure he's already had input into next season's car, and with Honda not wanting another disasterious season like 07, we'll see how quickly he can work his magic.

Or at least 2008 pt 2.
User avatar
By onelapdown
#24032
Wow, this is a major coup for Honda, but once again Jenson's been unlucky with his timing. If this had been announced last week there's no way Jenson would have said he was considering moving on for '09...
User avatar
By Woodchip
#24035
The main question is how much will Honda interfere with Ross's running of the team? Will the board continue to insist on certain things or will they actually trust the man they have appointed to run the show?

For Ross's sake I hope the board trust him and just give him the money he asks to run things.

Best of luck Ross.
User avatar
By raithrover
#24038
I think Honda should have learned their lesson from the mess of last season. Ross is purely there on the technical side and should have no interruptions (hopefully), Nick is still kicking around and would be their point of contact.

I wonder if they'll be sponsoring the F1 coverage on ITV next season, again?
User avatar
By McLaren Fan
#24044
From reading some of the things in the media it looks as though Brawn will be trusted a lot more than some, which is a good thing. The guy is a genius and it can only be a good move for Honda.
User avatar
By raithrover
#24059
I'm sure he would have had plenty of options about how to return to F1 and with whom. So no doubt he's researched what the job involves and what backing the team can give him. If anyone can turn Honda F1 around technically, he's the man.
By Ron Dennis
#24060
yeah if HONDA will allow Ross to run the team and keep their fingers out then I see great things
User avatar
By racechick
#24063
This is great news! I wonder how long he's had this planned? Weren't Stepney and Coughlan trying to make a move there with the Ferrari documents? Wonder if its connected in any way?
Whatever, great news for Honda. He turned Ferrari round, maybe we'll soon have another competitive team in the running :D
By mooker
#24064
Unlikely to happen, but it would be entertaining if MS's Ferrari testing lead to a Honda seat next year.

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