Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of Formula 1, has announced the appointments of Ross Brawn as Managing Director, Motor Sports and Sean Bratches as Managing Director, Commercial Operations. These appointments are effective immediately in conjunction with the completion of Liberty Media’s acquisition of Formula 1 announced earlier today.
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joeblogsf1 
Interesting times. Do you class this as ‘no real surprises’?
Nothing that wasn’t expected. Timing is a bit quicker…
Hi Joe.
Do you know what exactly Brawn’s role will entail?
Great blog. Keep up the great work!
re managing director motor sports position, it would have been hard for them to have came up with a better name than Ross Brawn.
Wow, and who said nothing happens in F1 in January.
It is time though for Bernie to step aside and I feel Ross will
thrive in his new role.
What do you think of this Joe? Good move? Brawn I think is definitely the right choice. Mr E sidelined but retained as an “adviser” also sounds like the right decision. Liberty getting off to a good start?
We’ll see…
How is Ross Brawn going to work with Charlie Whiting?
You asked the wrong question.
Try that the other way around…..
Great news, now can they clarify their earlier release about Bernie to ‘he will be categorically be ignored’ then all will be right with the world! Futures bright.
The last day MR E will pass out the F1 door most of formula 1 problems will follow him out that door.
But one thing is for sure, LM will milk F1 no less than CVC did, although some of the ways of the milking would most probably be different.
Yes, but they will grow the cow too
I believe they will, at least I hope they will.
The teams, F1’s dependency on manufactures (and in turn economics conditions), media fragmentation, declining interest in motor sports, etc. …there will be plenty going wrong. Just like the president of a democracy/republic, they get blamed for many things that are beyond their control. Sure, with his anachronistic marketing ideas, dictator deals, shady dealings with F1’s commercial rights, etc., Bernie deserves his fair share of criticsm, but I think people are ignoring just what a shrewd developer Mr. E has been and many of the things he did to get F1 to this point (or at least the point it was at its height before he did his fair in its current decline).
Bernie only ever did things that benefited Bernie.
This is the best news for F1 in a very long time. I am so glad to see Bernie go. Now F1 can become popular and connect with the fans. I think Ross will be terrific interfacing with the teams – he is hugely respected by all. I think all the talk of ditching Silverstone, Monza and Spa will disappear. I am sure the distribution of revenue among the teams will be much fairer and more transparent which can only be a good thing.
I live in the US where there is no real coverage of F1, the NBCSN coverage is just pitiful. I would gladly subscribe to a streaming service that would allow me to watch all the action live coupled with Live Timing and without adverts. My suggestion to Liberty Media would be for them to contract with Sky for commentary in English, and make the audio available in other languages too.
I would avoid the commentary from Sky it’s the pits. Stick with David Coulthard on Channel 4 or F1 commentary on the F1 official site. Besides you could always go online for the next two seasons while it’s on Channel 4 for free.
How are you in any position to judge the Sky commentary seeing as you constantly post that you won’t give them a penny? I watch all the races on Sky and I think Brundle, Croft and Kravitz are pretty good
I watched the free show when It was offered. I also watched a few in the Pub all I’m afraid poorly rated just like their production of RoC last weekend. Haphazard and woefully bad.
BBC had the best when DC was commentating. Brundle is the only top bloke on Sky with Anthony Davidson.
Having also seen a couple of the free race-rerun offerings from Sky the next day, I’ve been pretty disappointed by the commentary. One day, when pigs fly, we might yet get my projected dream team of Ben Edwards and Martin Brundle.
Rubbish – Sky’s commentary team is just about the best there is at the moment. A hell of a lot better than David ‘Redbull for life’ Coulthard (and I was a DC fan when he was a driver!)
Disagree Croft sounds like an overactiive puppy who seems to constantly surprised at the slightest thing. I won’t be surprised if he isn’t surprised by his own shadow on a day to day basis. David Coulthard , Ben Edwards , James Allen, Brundle Anthony Davidson & Lee Mckenzie would be a dream team with Jake Humphreys as the Anchor. But that’ll never happen.
Crofty does sometimes come across as on overactive puppy and that’s what makes him fun to listen too, are you telling me you didn’t love when the great Murray Walker was ‘beside himself’? (well, you cant compare anyone to Murray can you, legend !) 🙂
In Australia until the past two seasons we had free to air on Channel 10 with Alan Jones and Greg Rust (ex V8 Supercars driver). Rusty was pretty good but Jonesy maybe hadn’t kept up to current F1 as much as he needed to do, but it was fine. We got about a 20-30 min pre quali & race and that was it.
When Sky come in via Foxtel in 2015 Channel 10 dropped to only 10 races then some highlights Monday night. Sky had FP 1, 2 & 3, pre & post quali & race, so around 9-10 hours coverage per race. Not bad, I loved it, my wife not so much, and while you don’t want quantity over quality I have really enjoyed Sky’s coverage. We cant get Channel 4 hear so cant compare to be honest.
Welcome Brawn 👍
Hi Joe
Do you expect to see Liberty now step in to assist Manor in staying on the grid or will they be left to fend for themselves?
I doubt they will help financially.
Presumably if you were the Manor administrator though, you would be saying that F1 is now worth more money and likely to make more financial sense to any buyers of the team.
Ross Brawn has to be a Silver lining to the Liberty takeover.
I am still not sure what is in this deal for the teams and circuits, oh! And the fans
What an excellent appointment in Ross, a gentleman who will play fair with the teams! Just sad that they didn’t choose Adam Parr for the commercial side, I suggest he must have been considered, but Bratches has good media knowledge I suppose.
I hope Ross can provide a bit more technical consistency and a robust interpretation of the rules. I think these stored energy suspension systems are a total dead end and a monumental waste of time and money.
Hopefully the various team will have a significant of respect for the new management team and all pull together. this is a seismic change for F1 a once in a generation event. Once, just for once, I hope the teams can focus on the wider F1 community and make it work rather than the self interest agenda.
Without a healthy F1 their own interests will amount to nothing in the end.
Good luck to you all. I look forward a season of robust racing and technical intrigue.
An open massage to Chase, Ross & Liberty. Feel free to call if you need any fan engagement I’m happy to road test any front line initiatives that bring fans closer to the sport 🙂
Joe for me if Liberty Media don’t prevent F1 from going behind an exclusive TV paywall from 2019 for me they will have failed already for me .
I have heard you say yourself in the past Joe that you don’t think the Pay TV model works at all – but given Mr Carey’s links to the Murdoch Empire I fear my protestations along with other F1 fans will fall on deaf ears.
I have seen Mr Carey’s interview on Sky Sports this morning and it was all about improving the on track show rather than sorting the television rights mess that Mr E created by putting certain races behind an exclusive paywall. The fact he give the interview to Sky sums up the problem of that I suppose .
If F1 goes permanently behind a paywall viewing figures will continue to plummet and F1 will be even more of niche sport than it already is . I am also worried Mr Carey will look overload the calendar in any old place. Do you share my my concerns Joe? That said I am pleased that they are looking into stopping the ridiculously unfair bonuses the likes of Ferrari and RBR get.
Just to clarify I mean’t overloading the calendar in any old American place.
Regretfully they will fail then! You may not have to pay Sky a subscription (you don’t now either as you have Now TV) but they are not going to release their product and the huge revenue streams that come with it. Sure there will be some free to air but the majority of the content you will have to pay for -probably eventually online.
Er you obviously haven’t heard that Bernie signed an exclusive deal with Sky for 2019 onward . NOW TV is a big con as there are monthly fees £6.99 for a sport package When fans continue to leave in their droves if Liberty allow the paywall farce to continue then maybe they will realise there’s a problem. It really has to stop . Jimbo my point is Liberty will destroy F1 eventually if they do not bring exclusive free to air coverage . Restricted Accessibility Declining Fanbase = Less Money spent on GP weekends = A Brand that has rotted into the shadows of the sporting abyss.
Sorry, my first comment was sarcasm. I know that there is a new deal that will unlikely be changed. Interestingly this deal will show 3 races live (1 being the BGP) and highlights of all races and Quali’s on a free to air basis. I think this is the likely model going forwards.
Now TV is not a con. It is a simple pay as you go service. There is no monthly fee involved – which I suggest shows your bias.
Finally on your point about Free to Air TV coverage I have to disagree. The new owners will find the perfect mix (this is key). You only have to look at how the Premier League has gained popularity and not one single game has been free to air since 1992! Quite simply if the product is correct people will pay!
But F1 is not even close to brand of the Premier League so it’s a bit of a strange comparison you make . The reason the Premier League is successful on Sky/BT is its football the most world renowned sport . F1 and other motorsports attract a niche market.
Well here’s hoping that Ross Brawn can get the things done which need to be done to improve the technical and sporting regulations, without any unfair / undue influence from particular teams.
I knew my old Brawn GP jacket would come into fashion again one day…. I hope he remembers how it all works, he’s been away fishing for a long time 🙂
I hope the first move by Ross Brawn would be to remove the unsportive aspects of racing like the DRS system and all other unnatural aids to the drivers. The only racing aspect that DRS brings, is the fact that drivers in front has to go flat out in a way to get out of the one second distnace from the following driver, preventing him from using DRS.
DRS and Kers systems (now introduced directly in the engine) must go quickly. Also, the fuel management system should go but I don’t want refueling back. Just put more fuel in the car with the 100 kg restriction removed.
Alain Prost was the master of fuel and tyre management. He knew how and when managing these aspects of racing without outside helps.
I guess the book co-authored by Ross Brawn should have been on my Christmas present list. Instead I’m looking at Brian Redman photos in another extraordinary book…
Gordon Murray, BCE’s favourite designer, wrote an F1 manifesto for Motor Sport magazine a few years ago — with delightful illustrations to show how a car might work in the drag of another. The art of building F1 cars which can race in close proximity is understood (ish), but the politics of convincing teams and designers are another matter. All of the tweaks that they have created are meaningless to the practical world — they matter for silly cars but are irrelevant for washing machines and space shuttles — but somebody will argue that they affect the rest of us.
Hybrid engine technology? It is fascinating to me and important to big car companies. If I look at my big spending money for watching motorsport, I blew it all on nifty little cars and bikes and big V8s.
Good luck to Ross Brawn and family on his new track in life.
Given that you know Ross Brawn better than the rest of us here combined, what’s your sense of how his personal attributes are a good match for the job vs. how the job might insist on things that are not his strong suit?
He will be reasoned and sensible.
It will be interesting to see how Ross and Charlie get along..
The King is dead! Long live the King!
Shakes head with amazement….
There doesn’t seem to be any detail yet as to what Ross Brawn’s role actually entails, but it strikes me that a lot of BE’s activity in that area was just ad hominem, arising solely from him being regarded as the ‘boss of F1’ or the ‘F1 supremo’. Fundamentally, it isn’t clear why Liberty Media, as the commercial rights holder, should have any role to play in the technical and sporting regulations.
The FIA used to involve Bernie in those matters only because he was Bernie, but Ross Brawn isn’t Bernie, nobody else can be Bernie, so it isn’t clear to me that there is necessarily a big job there for Ross Brawn to do. Especially if the distribution of funds between the teams is made, as it should be, open, above-board and formulaic.