Brawn In at Honda

When he failed to come to an agreement with Ferrari, Ross Brawn wasted no time in accepting the Team Principal job at Honda. It's been widely known that Honda, Toyota, and Ferrari all wanted Brawn's services, but Ferrari failed to close the deal.

Brawn, who came to Ferrari from Bennetton with Michael Schumacher in 1996, was a central figure in the Italian team's resurgence, leading to an unprecedented 5 straight World Driver's and Constructor's championships with Schumacher.

When MS retired at the end of 2006, Brawn took a sabbatical to recharge his batteries. He had been tipped to replace Jean Todt, who's been running the Ferrari team since 1993, but the deal never happened.

Brawn is a technical and organizational giant, credited with bringing discipline to the notoriously unorganized Ferrari squad, and quelling the infighting that marked the 80's and early 90's at Fiorano.

The 2007 Honda was a complete disaster, and their 2008 car is largely finished already, so Brawn will have his work cut out for him. I imagine he will concentrate on reorganizing the team and then start on the car. Button and Barrichello are both ready to leave, but are under contract for 2008. I had thought Barrichello was going to retire, but with his old mate coming in to run the team, Rubens may stick it out one more year.