Sergio Marchionne was in Maranello last week for a series of meetings on how to turn Ferrari’s fortunes around on the race track. And the plan that he and team principal Maurizio Arrivabene came up with reportedly hinges on getting Ross Brawn back on board.
Chief among his many achievements, Brawn was the architect of Ferrari’s most successful era. After securing back-to-back world championships together at Benetton, he and Michael Schumacher moved to Ferrari. Thanks in no small part to Brawn’s brilliant strategy and technical expertise, the Scuderia took home five drivers’ and six constructors’ titles in a row between 1999 and 2004.
It was the most dominant winning streak in Formula One history, but followed by two difficult years (in which Fernando Alonso and Renault dominated), the “dream team” disbanded: Schumacher retired, chief engineer Rory Byrne stepped back into a consultancy roll, and Ross Brawn took a break.
Brawn resurfaced two years later at Honda, took over the team upon the Japanese manufacturer’s withdrawal, and took the world championship once again with Jenson Button behind the wheel. He and his lieutenants then sold the team to Mercedes, bringing Schumacher back out of retirement. But the seven-time world champ retired again in 2012, and Brawn left in 2013.
The strategic mastermind has been reluctant to go back to work full time in the years since. And as Motorsport.com reports, he recently turned down an offer from Ferrari. But the new plan would reportedly involve bringing Brawn back on strictly in an advisory capacity, and not require him to travel to each race around the world.
Just what that would mean for Arrivabene and technical director James Allison remains to be seen. But the bigger questions at the moment are whether Brawn will accept what Ferrari offers, and whether his input will be enough to turn the team’s luck around and topple Mercedes from the top of the podium.
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