Ross Brawn has fervently denied he may be replaced at the Mercedes AMG F1 Team in the near future following rumours that Paddy Lowe may replace him.
Brawn, who has been team principal of the outfit since Daimler purchased Brawn GP in late 2009, insists the newly hired Toto Wolff is there simply to look after the commercial side, whilst Lowe is simply a back-up plan should Brawn decide to leave the team.
“I am the team principal. I am in charge of sporting, technical and racing matters,” he told reporters on Thursday.
“I know the situation completely,” he added. “Mercedes want a long-term commitment. And obviously, with a lot of additions, I want to see how things go before I make a final long-term commitment.”
He admits having spoken to McLaren’s Lowe as part of his ‘succession plan’ similar to that at Ferrari when he signalled his intention to leave.
“When I decided I was going to stop at Ferrari, we built a succession plan and I am part of that, I’ve talked to Paddy, we know the situation.”
He denies Wolff is there to step on his toes, with the Austrian’s role complementary to his own.
“There is another side of the business that I don’t want to get involved in – the commercial activities – Toto will be doing [that and they] are complementary to what I will be doing.
