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 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 was based in Reading at that time, and was interviewed by Patrick Head; Williams were looking for a milling machinist, one of the skills he had learnt at Harwell.
Brawn lives in Stoke Row, near Henley-on-Thames. In his spare time he enjoys gardening, fishing and listening to music. In 2006, he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering (DEng) from Brunel University for his services to motorsport, and on 18 November 2011 he received a second honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University.
Brawn's career in motorsport began in 1976 when he joined March Engineering in Bicester as a milling machine operator. Soon afterwards, he joined their Formula 3 racing team as a mechanic. He was hired by Frank Williams in 1978 as a machinist for the newly formed Williams team, and 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. With the four-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, despite the cars generally being regarded in the Formula One paddock as the best-handling cars on the grid and being driven by 1980 World Champion Alan Jones and former factory Ferrari and Renault driver Patrick Tambay. When the team left Formula One at the end of the 1986 season, Brawn moved to Arrows, where he designed the Megatron-powered Arrows A10 and its update the A10B for the 1987 and 1988 seasons respectively, and the Ford V8-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 technical director of the Benetton team, helping it win consecutive World Drivers' Championships in 1994 and 1995 with Michael Schumacher, and the World Constructors' Championship in 1995. Despite the car being designed by Rory Byrne, Brawn was credited by much of the specialist press with being an important part of these championships, particularly in terms of devising race strategy. He also persuaded Frank Dernie to join to help with car development and improve the team organisation.
Brawn followed Schumacher to Ferrari in late 1996, at the end of Schumacher's first year with the team. He was renowned for his race strategies as the team began to challenge for the championship from 1997, despite the superiority of the Williams cars that year and the McLarens from 1998 onwards. As Ferrari technical director, he helped them win the Constructors' Championship in 1999, the first of six consecutive titles, and the Brawn-guided Scuderia powered Schumacher to five consecutive drivers' titles from 2000 to 2004. His contributions led many to label him a vital member of the Ferrari "dream team" along with Schumacher, team principal Jean Todt, and chief designer Rory Byrne. In 2005, Ferrari relinquished the title to Renault, and Schumacher passed the crown to Fernando Alonso. In 2006, Ferrari had a poor start to the season but clearly had the fastest car by the end of it.
On 26 October 2006, Ferrari announced that Brawn was to leave the team. It was believed he would take a one-year sabbatical to allow other members of the Ferrari technical departments to advance within the team.
Towards the end of 2007, it was reported that Brawn was to join the big-spending Red Bull outfit as part of a package intended to attract double world champion Fernando Alonso. On 12 November 2007, it was announced that Brawn was to become the new team principal of Honda, and he started working with the British-based team on 26 November 2007. With the withdrawal of Honda from Formula One announced in late 2008, Brawn was effectively out of the sport unless a buyer could quickly be found — unfortunate for Brawn, as he believed the team had a "race-winning car" for 2009.
On 5 March 2009, a 100% buy-out of Honda was completed, with Brawn taking a controlling 54% stake. The team announced entry to the 2009 Formula One World Championship under the new name Brawn GP. Minority shareholders were CEO Nick Fry (31%), former Honda finance chief Nigel Kerr (8%), former Honda head of Human Resources John Marsden (3%), former Honda legal counsel Caroline McGrory (3%), and former Honda director Gordon Blair (1%). Many aspects of Honda were retained under the new ownership, including the experienced driver line-up of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button. Brawn GP chose to source their engines for the 2009 season from Mercedes-Benz.
In the first Grand Prix of 2009 in Australia, Button qualified in pole position with Barrichello second; they finished in those positions. Of the 17 Grand Prix races of the 2009 season, Button won six and Barrichello won two, while the team finished in both first and second places in four races and on the podium in eleven. The team was given a financial boost on the eve of the Australian Grand Prix when Virgin boss Richard Branson announced he was to become a team sponsor; the Swiss brokers MIG Investments came on board as a second sponsor. Brawn GP won the 2009 Constructors' Championship and Button won the Drivers' Championship at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Brawn was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to motorsport.
In November 2009, Brawn GP was bought out by Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz. Brawn, as majority shareholder, stood to do very well financially from the deal and remained as team principal. He and Fry kept a 24.9% share in the new team, which was then sold to Daimler AG in early 2011. In December 2009, seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher confirmed that the main reason he decided to come out of retirement and drive for Mercedes GP was because of Brawn. The start of the 2010 season was rather slow, with Schumacher managing only sixth in Bahrain, tenth in Australia, and a retirement in Malaysia from a lost wheel nut, while his teammate and fellow countryman Nico Rosberg had a little more success, scoring the first podium for Mercedes Grand Prix with third in Malaysia.
The team won their first race on 15 April 2012, when Rosberg won the Chinese Grand Prix. Towards the end of that season the team had some lacklustre results, and in the Japanese Grand Prix Schumacher announced his retirement from Formula One; Mercedes announced that 2008 world champion and McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton would join their line-up, pairing with Rosberg for 2013. The 2013 car was initially unreliable but showed pace as testing continued. At the controversial Malaysian Grand Prix, Brawn spoke to both drivers over team radio asking them to hold position for fear of high-degrading Pirelli tyres and a lack of fuel on board both cars. Rosberg brought Mercedes their first win of the season in Monaco; the victory was overshadowed by controversy after Mercedes used a then-current car when undertaking a tyre test at the invitation of Pirelli shortly before the Grand Prix. The team were reprimanded by the FIA and banned from a subsequent young drivers' test but did not lose any championship points. Following multiple tyre failures at the British Grand Prix, Pirelli reverted to the 2012 components after the summer break, after which Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull won all the remaining races and the championships. Mercedes finished second in the constructors' championship, while Hamilton and Rosberg finished fourth and fifth in the drivers' standings.
On 29 October 2013, the BBC reported that Brawn would leave Mercedes at the end of the 2013 season, following disagreement about his role in the team.
On 1 February 2014, Brawn announced his retirement from Formula One, ending speculation of a possible position at the Woking-based McLaren team. The FIA announced in October 2014 that Brawn would be a member of a 10-strong panel to investigate Jules Bianchi's crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, with the panel reporting to the World Motor Sport Council in December. In an interview in October 2016, Brawn indicated he was ready to return to Formula 1 in a strategic rather than a team role; his book on strategy in Formula 1, Total Competition, was released a week later.
On 23 January 2017, it was announced that Brawn was appointed to the newly created role of managing director, Motor Sports, and technical director for the Formula One Group. Following the 2022 season, rumours emerged he might return to Ferrari as team principal; on 28 November 2022, he confirmed he was retiring from Formula One.
In 2010, Brawn, a member of the RNLI, set up the Brawn Lifeboat Challenge to fund a new lifeboat for the River Thames in London; the venture raised £360,000 in eight months and the new E-class lifeboat Brawn Challenge was launched in September 2012. In 2014, he became a patron of Hope for Tomorrow, a charity which provides NHS trusts with mobile cancer care units to deliver cancer treatment in local communities. Brawn escaped a driving ban after he admitted speeding at over 100 mph (160 km/h) on the 70 mph (112 km/h) limited A30 at Sourton near Okehampton, Devon, on 30 May 2009; he paid a fine of £700, costs of £75, and had his licence endorsed with six points.
Brawn co-wrote Total Competition: Lessons in Strategy from Formula One with Adam Parr, published by Simon & Schuster in 2016 (ISBN 978-1471162350).
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