Despite Suffering at the Hands of Red Bull, Ferrari Heaped With Praises & Big 2023 Boost

Ross Brawn has been a pivotal character in F1. Brawn had done it all in F1 and was a pivotal figure in securing Michael Schumacher’s 7 world titles. After such a long career, the Briton is set to retire from F1. Though, his former employer Ferrari may need some of his masterful technical brains.

Ross Brawn is currently the Managing Director of Formula 1. His first major role in F1 was being the technical director at Benetton. This was where he first worked with Michael Schumacher. Since then, he has been part of each one of Schumacher’s championship victories.

Following Schumacher to Ferrari after 1996, Brawn helmed the post of technical director at Maranello. The trio of team boss Jean Todt, Michael Schumacher, and Ross Brawn were perhaps the bedrock of Ferrari’s success at the turn of the millennium.

About a decade and a half later, Brawn runs F1 as one of its key leadership figures. The 68-year-old puts forth his views on the happenings in F1 on the official website of the sport. In the 2022 season review, Brawn praised his former team Ferrari’s step forward in performance.

Brawn mentioned, “Ferrari have taken another step forward and they are to be congratulated on their solid performance and progress. Double second place [in both championships] is a good basis for next year.” [translated via Google]

The speculation of Brawn’s return to Maranello is based on the coinciding of his retirement and Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto‘s resignation. Though there is no official confirmation from either Ferrari or Brawn himself.

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Despite Brawn’s praises, Ferrari needs to find answers after humbling domination at the hands of Red Bull this season.

How the Schumacher-Brawn-Todt Trio made Ferrari dominate F1

Ferrari had last won a championship in 1979 when Jody Scheckter took the driver’s title. The Tifosi got some hope in 1990 when Alain Prost came quite close, but the challenge faltered in the finale. It took almost 2 decades for the Scuderia to rebuild a championship-winning unit.

In 1993, the bosses at Maranello appointed Jean Todt as the team principal. Amidst a tumultuous period, Todt began the rebuilding phase for the team to take them back to glory. And then came the leading hero of Ferrari’s resurgence – Michael Schumacher.

After consecutive championship wins in 1994-95, Schumacher joined Ferrari in ’96. While the Scuderia had a decent car, it fell short of Williams and McLaren in the next 3-4 seasons. The last member of this successful trio, Ross Brawn, joined in ’97 and took charge as the technical director.

Brawn knew Schumacher well since their time together at Benetton. Thus, Michael knew Brawn’s potential as a technical director and a masterful strategist. The trio of Todt, Schumacher, and Brawn settled things in the team with chief designer Rory Byrne, leading Ferrari to their first championship in decades in 2000.

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It was just the beginning of a consistent period of domination for about half a decade. The current Ferrari team is in a similar position, facing a championship drought since 2008. So it will be interesting to see who takes charge, as this trio did back in the day.

What do you think? Who does Ferrari need to win their first championship since 2008?