Ross Brawn

Brawn (right) with Tom Walkinshaw at the 1992 San Marino Grand Prix

**Ross James Brawn** (born 23 November 1954) is a British Formula One aerodynamicist, motor sports and technical director.

## 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 in the town.

In 1971 he was taken on as a mechanical craft apprentice by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority at its Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, Oxfordshire, where he qualified as an instrument mechanic. He went on to start an HNC in Mechanical Engineering, still funded by Harwell. Living in Reading he found an advertisement for Frank Williams Grand Prix, which were based in Reading at that time; he was interviewed by Patrick Head. Williams were looking for a milling machinist which was one of the skills he learnt at Harwell.

## Career

His career in motorsport began in 1976 when he joined March Engineering in the town of Bicester as a milling machine operator. Soon afterwards he joined their Formula Three racing team as a mechanic. Brawn was hired by Frank Williams in 1978 as a machinist for the newly formed Williams team. He quickly moved up through the ranks, working in the R&D department with Frank Dernie and as an aerodynamicist in the team's wind tunnel.

Brawn joined the Haas Lola team in 1985 and was part of Neil Oatley's design team at FORCE that produced both the Lola THL1 and THL2 cars used by the team. However, with the 4 cylinder Hart engine in the THL1 and the new Ford V6 turbo powering the THL2, results were scarce against teams like McLaren and Williams with their TAG-Porsche and Honda turbo engines. This was despite the cars generally being regarded by most in the F1 paddock as being the best handling cars on the grid, as well as having 1980 World Champion Alan Jones and former factory Ferrari and Renault driver Patrick Tambay as the drivers. When the team left F1 at the end of the 1986 season, Brawn moved to Arrows. There he designed the Megatron powered Arrows A10 and its update, the A10B for the 1987 and 1988 seasons respectively and the Ilmor V10 powered Arrows A11 used in 1989.

Later in 1989 Brawn moved to the Jaguar Sportscar racing division, and was lead designer on the Jaguar XJR-14 which won the 1991 World Sportscar Championship. Later in 1991, Brawn returned to Formula One as the technical director of Benetton.

## Notes

1. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Shaw, James (19 June 2004). "Ross Brawn". *Manchester Evening News*. Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stoke Row man set to head up Formula 1 team. *Henley Standard*.
3. ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Johnston, Ian (24 May 2009). "Ross Brawn, Formula 1's kingmaker: profile". *The Daily Telegraph*. London. ISSN 0307-1235. OCLC 49632006. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2012.