Since then Brawn, 58, has been in talks with Lauda and Wolff over his future
role, with the Englishman saying in Japan earlier this month that he wanted
to remain at the team but only if he was the “senior reference”.
“Any successful F1 team has to have a senior reference and that’s the big
question,” Brawn said. “We need to make sure if I’m to remain here that I’m
the reference.”
Lauda said in Japan that he was keen for Brawn to stay but the BBC reported on
Tuesday that the two had “failed to reach an agreement” with Mercedes only
prepared to offer Brawn a role that “did not involve the day-to-day running
of the team”.
If Brawn does leave, it will undoubtedly come as a blow to Lewis
Hamilton who has repeatedly said that the chance of working with the
highly-respected Englishman was a major factor in his decision to quit
McLaren at the end of last year.
Brawn was with Michael Schumacher for all seven of his championships at
Benetton and Ferrari. He then moved to Honda, taking over the Brackley team
when the Japanese manufacturer pulled out of the sport in 2009. Brawn GP
proceeded to win both championships, with Jenson Button claiming the
drivers’ title.
Reports in Germany have linked Brawn with a return to Honda to run its F1
programme when it re-enters Formula One in 2015 as an engine partner to
McLaren. Sources at McLaren have denied that Brawn will join the Woking team.