Ross Brawn admits he struggled to work with former Formula 1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone
Brawn says his long-term visions for the sport often clashed with Ecclestone's reactionary nature
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Your support makes all the difference.Formula One’s new motorsport managing director Ross Brawn has admitted that he finds himself ‘unable to work’ with former chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, although has claimed he did not take the job on the condition that Ecclestone was moved into a non-managerial position.
In January 2017, it was announced that Brawn had returned to the sport having been handed a senior role by new owner Liberty Media.
He now forms part of the three-man team at the very top of the sport, which is headed up by the new CEO, Chase Carey.
Carey’s appointment as CEO prompted a significant restructure, with Ecclestone finally relinquishing control of the sport and being named ‘Chairman Emeritus’, a symbolic position which leaves Ecclestone with little to do with the new management team.
Ecclestone has since claimed that Brawn would not have taken the job had he stayed on, but Brawn has this week denied those claims.
“That is not true. I mean, I could not work with Bernie but I never made that a condition,” he told F1 Racing.
“It would have been very entertaining to work with Bernie.
“It wasn't impossible, but Bernie has done things in his own way over the years, and very effectively.
“But I've never seen Bernie with any serious partners, certainly not in terms of running the business.”
Brawn added that his long-term approach to the future of Formula One resulted in friction with Ecclestone, who he says favoured a more “reactive” approach.
“He's had people who've helped him with aspects of the business, but I'm not sure that my philosophy of how I think it could go forward necessarily aligns with Bernie's,” Brawn said.
“Bernie was very adept to a reactive approach; mine is the opposite, I want to have a planned and a long-term approach.
“I think Bernie's famously said 'Don't plan long-term because you don't know what's going to be there when you get there.'"
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