Key Highlights
- It requires ingenuity.
- Furthermore, it requires bravery to make difficult decisions amid the pressure-cooker environment of F1. Ross Brawn, who received the Gold Medal at the 38th annual Autosport Awards in recognition of his vast achievements, demonstrated all of the above qualities and more across his time in F1.
- As an engineer, a designer, a strategist and, latterly, as a team owner, he went through the gamut of F1's myriad challenges - and played an indispensable role in eight constructors' and eight drivers' championships.
- He enjoyed even more success in a short spell outside of F1 with Jaguar's World Sportscar Championship team. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAt Benetton, Brawn's input - alongside the efforts of the likes of Michael Schumacher, Rory Byrne, and Pat Symonds - resulted in the team's rise from occasional race winners at the turn of the 1990s to clinch two drivers' titles in 1994 and 1995, paired with the teams' crown in the last-named season.
- While Benetton's 1994 car, the B194, courted controversy - suspicions of the use of driver aids could never be proved, but never truly went away - the B195 was a runaway success in Schumacher's hands.