 ross james brawn obe (born 23 november 1954) is an english former motorsport engineer and formula one team principal. he worked for a number of formula one teams, serving as the technical director of the championship-winning benetton and ferrari teams. he took a sabbatical from the sport in 2007 but returned to f1 for the 2008 season as team principal of honda. he was the owner of the brawn gp team, which acquired the honda team in early 2009, and won the formula one constructors and drivers championships in that year. mercedes bought into the team in november 2009, making brawn team principal and co-owner with nick fry. in 2011 brawn and fry sold the remaining shares to mercedes benz, with brawn remaining as team principal. in november 2013, it was announced that brawn would step down, and the reins would be handed over to a management team consisting of paddy lowe and toto wolff. following speculation linking him with other teams, brawn announced his retirement from formula one in february 2014. brawn-led teams have won 9 constructors championships. == early life and family == brawn was born in ashton-under-lyne, lancashire, england. he became interested in engineering during his early years, often visiting belle vue stadium to watch various forms of motor racing. he moved south aged 11 as his father took a job near reading, berkshire and he subsequently attended [[reading school
1954_births Auto_racing_crew_chiefs British_automotive_engineers British_motorsport_designers Ferrari_people Formula_One_designers Living_people Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire Sportspeople_from_Manchester