Mercedes Non-Executive Chairman Niki Lauda insists Ross Brawn has not had his final say regarding his departure from the team and that nothing will be decided until after the last race of the season in Brazil.
Brawn, who has been Mercedes Team Principal since 2007, is reportedly on the way out of Brackley after expressing he is unhappy about the division of power in the garage but Lauda says he will do everything he can to persuade him to stay and that discussions will be held after Brazil.
“Everybody is happy, there’s no problem whatsoever,” said Brawn about the rumoured troubles within the team.
“It’s very simple, I want him to stay. After Brazil, after the last race we’re going to discuss with him what he wants to do, so there’s no issue.”
When asked whether Brawn has already decided to leave, Lauda said: “No, no, no he hasn’t come to a decision because I’m the only one who speaks to him. He’s the boss, he’s our team principal, everybody’s working with him, then he’ll take a decision for next year.”
Brawn had said at the Japanese Grand Prix that he required a “very clear definition of who is in charge” before deciding whether he will stay but Lauda says the Team Principal’s power is not in question.
“There’s no discussion. He has the power and he will always have the power,” said an adamant Lauda. “All this is press bulls**t. We have harmony here, everybody knows what he’s doing and there is no stress in the team whatsoever.”
On how confident he is on keeping Brawn, Lauda added: It’s hard to say because he can say to me ‘I want to go fishing’ but I don’t know.
“But it’s completely stupid to discuss this in the middle of the season because we are fighting hopefully for the second place in the constructors’ championship (with Ferrari and Lotus). So the logic is for any professional team to work to the end, everybody together – and this I can assure you is happening – and then you decide what’s happening next season.”
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