Question: Ross, with Mercedes buying Brawn you’ve landed the ultimate coup. Can you briefly go through what led to the November announcement?
Ross Brawn: Well, of course we started a partnership with Mercedes in December last year when they agreed to provide their engine to the team. They were very supportive during that difficult time, which lasted several months, when we didn’t know what the future of the team would be. I have a longstanding relation with Norbert (Haug). I’ve known him for many years. We have always fought strong battles but have been good friends afterwards. So as the team developed during the year we informed Mercedes that we were looking for greater stability and some investment in the team to ensure its security. We really informed them as a courtesy and not as a move to go beyond the relationship that we had. But Mercedes came back saying that they at least would like to discuss what our objectives were and what our ambitions for the team were. By then it was already midseason and we started to discuss things from there.
Question: How did you persuade Michael?
Ross Brawn: I saw last year that Michael was very enthusiastic about the possibility of driving a Ferrari when Felipe (Massa) was injured. I saw the excitement and the passion he had to do that. It became clear he still had a wish. We tried hard with Jenson (Button) to find a solution, but when it became clear that we were not able to find one, I started discussions with Michael and after a few days he at least agreed to take the discussion forward to see if we could find a solution. The first thing of course was from Michael to decide if he would want to drive again. He took a few days for that, which was absolutely correct, and he came back saying that he would like to drive again and that we should see if we can find solutions to all the aspects of this possibility. So we worked on that for three or four weeks and found a solution. At that time - at the end of November - I was on my holidays doing most of the negotiations on the phone. Then we made the announcement shortly before Christmas.
Question: You have tipped Schumacher to win this year’s championship and Schumacher is positive that he can deliver, but Mercedes’ Norbert Haug seems a bit reluctant to make a prediction. What do you and Michael know that Norbert doesn’t?
Ross Brawn: Well, I think you can never guarantee any championship - there are too many strong teams and drivers. I think Michael has the experience to win a championship and has the talent and ability to win a championship. He’s done it before and knows what it takes. Nico (Rosberg) has the speed and the talent, but has not won a race yet so he needs to cross that hurdle first. But there is no reason why Nico should not compete as well. I think the question I was asked was which of the existing world champions would I back to win the world championship and naturally it’s Michael. In a broader context we have two great drivers and our objective is to be competitive. All you can do every year is try to be competitive. When you are competitive you start to win races, and from winning races, you might win the championship. And that’s all you can set out to do. So I am not making a prediction we are going to win the world championship, but if I had to back one of the four world champions, I would feel happy to back Michael.
Question: Schumacher and Brawn reunited. Is this a return to the glory days or just a pipe dream with an immense marketing value?
Ross Brawn: There is no marketing consideration at all for me. The opportunity was so tempting to partner with Michael again, and it was too good an opportunity to say no. I think Michael will bring a lot of things to the team, not just his performances but also in terms of motivation. At the factory there is a huge amount of excitement about the prospect of working with Michael. The engineers are very excited. So there are many elements that Michael brings. As I said, it was too good an opportunity for us to ignore.
Question: Schumacher and Brawn are a real partnership. How will Rosberg fit in?
Ross Brawn: We signed Nico first and have tried to sign Nico for several years. We had strong discussions with him two years ago. We see Nico as a great talent, but it needs finishing and maturing. He has not won a race yet, although he came very close, and I think it is a wonderful partnership between him and Michael. They work well together and I see Michael helping Nico develop his career. Michael has come out of retirement but we have to accept that there will come a day when he has to stop forever and then we will have Nico. They must both try the hardest to beat each other but if it is done with the right spirit, with the right approach, then both will gain enormously. I view it as a very exciting partnership and I am glad Nico is part of it.
Question: The four leading teams have all signed exquisite line-ups, and now their cars have to prove they can keep up with their driver. Who do you think will challenge you the most?
Ross Brawn: If you look back, the teams with the strongest performances have been Ferrari and McLaren. Now Red Bull has joined that group. There are many reasons for that, including the quality of the people and the resources that they have. So these teams will be the obvious candidates. But there is always a possibility that there will be a resurgence from teams such as Renault or Williams because they are good teams. But we have no idea where our competitors are. We will have some insight at the beginning of testing, but as I said before, we will have a major update before Bahrain and I’m sure most of the other teams will too. The first snapshot of our competitors we will get in Valencia and in Jerez. The bigger picture we will get in Bahrain.
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