Breaking news
Formula 1
Brawn: McLaren, Williams declines show F1 has "no mercy"
Williams and McLaren's struggles last season were proof that Formula 1 shows "no mercy" for teams that get things wrong, says sporting chief Ross Brawn.
Jonathan Noble Frankie Mao
Edited: Jan 8, 2019, 2:06 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Despite the two British outfits being amongst the most successful in F1 history, a raft of issues left them battling near the bottom of the grid in 2018 as their rivals stepped up their game.
Brawn, who is F1's managing director of motorsports, reckons that while a title-winning team like Mercedes has benefited from huge stability, staffing reshuffles at McLaren and Williams over recent years contributed to their woes.
"Mercedes still have the same people that I found there in 2007 and that is more than 10 years of stability," Brawn told Motorsport.com. "That's so important.
"I think Williams and McLaren, they went through changes and it always takes a while for those things to settle down. They are great teams with a great history, but unfortunately Formula 1 is not a great respecter of histories. It only respects what's going on track.
"We as Formula 1 very much want those teams to get back into a competitive position because they're great teams and great brands. But Formula 1 has no mercy.
"If you're not doing a first-class job you it's demonstrated every Sunday or every other Sunday. They have capacity to get back into a competitive place, but it's a tough job."
Editor-in-Chief's opinion:
Brawn also believes that a lack of stability at Ferrari, which lost its president Sergio Marchionne in the middle of last year, contributed to its failure to win the world championship again.
"It's nearly always a combination of things, it's never one single thing," added Brawn. "I think there was no doubt with Ferrari, the death of Sergio Marchionne had an impact.
"It was tragic in itself but it also had an impact on the team. For a man of his calibre and standing, it's always going to be a very destabilising situation for a while.
"But I think they will have looked at what they have learnt and Sebastian [Vettel] would look at what he's done. I think there's a strong chance that they will be there fighting [in 2019].
"You have to look at the Ferrari of two or three years ago to realise how much progress they have made. The fact we are talking about them coming close to winning a championship is quite an achievement over where they were two or three years ago.
"It's such a massive challenge to even win in Formula 1. But to win a championship is another level. So, you can talk about every team that doesn't win the championship as having its challenges."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Wehrlein joins Ferrari in F1 development role
Next article Formula 1 should slash downforce by "40-50%"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
McLaren
McLaren’s 2027-spec front wing is making its F1 car more predictable
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
5 h
McLaren’s 2027-spec front wing is making its F1 car more predictable
F1 Brazilian GP: Sunday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
19 h
F1 Brazilian GP: Sunday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Latest news
Casey Mears makes milestone 500th NASCAR Cup start he never meant to reach
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
12 min
Casey Mears makes milestone 500th NASCAR Cup start he never meant to reach
MotoGP Qatar GP: Marco Bezzecchi wins as Marc Marquez has title triumph delayed
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
22 min
MotoGP Qatar GP: Marco Bezzecchi wins as Marc Marquez has title triumph delayed
LIVE: F1 Brazilian GP - Lando Norris leads after Kimi Antonelli spin
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 h
LIVE: F1 Brazilian GP - Lando Norris leads after Kimi Antonelli spin
WEC Monza: Cadillac wins chaotic finale, #8 Toyota seals drivers’ title
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
1 h
WEC Monza: Cadillac wins chaotic finale, #8 Toyota seals drivers’ title
Feature
Discover prime content
How F1’s rules got to be so complex
Formula 1
By Pat Symonds
How F1’s rules got to be so complex
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe