2014 Russian GP paper review: Ross Brawn the forgotten man at champions Mercedes

As Mercedes celebrated their maiden Constructors’ Championship, Monday’s papers reserved a special mention for former Team Principal Ross Brawn.

The Englishman left the team he had rebuilt after selling Brawn GP to the Silver Arrows in 2010 last year and, following Mercedes' title-clinching one-two in Sunday's Russian GP, The Times went with the headline: ‘Forgotten man Brawn has a right to feel proud of his role in Mercedes’ race to supremacy.’

“That shiny winner’s trophy should be parcelled up today and sent to a riverbank somewhere in England, addressed to a Mr R Brawn,’ wrote Kevin Eason.

‘The bluff Mancunian, who was drummed out of his team last year, is the architect of the success. It was Ross Brawn’s planning, his recruitment and his magical inspirational and organisation skills that set up a first constructors’ title for Mercedes.

‘It is a pity that such a great career should have ended in an ignominious departure from Mercedes when he discovered that Paddy Lowe had been hired from McLaren as his replacement behind his back.’

Those sentiments were echoed by Jonathan McEvoy in the Daily Mail who described Brawn as the 'mastermind' behind Mercedes' success.

‘If any one individual deserves praise it is Ross Brawn, the mastermind of their superiority,’ he wrote. ‘He was dispensed with in an awful power struggle last year and now spends more time with his family and his fishing rod.’

Whilst Lewis Hamilton may have cruised to victory in Russia, it was another Briton whose performance was highlighted after Jenson Button finished fourth for McLaren. The 2009 champion is out of contract at the end of the season and his future is in doubt with Fernando Alonso courting the Woking team.

‘Jenson Button fired a timely reminder to McLaren boss Ron Dennis with an excellent fourth place finish, one ahead of team-mate Kevin Magnussen,’ Ben Hunt wrote in The Sun.

In The Times, Eason added: ‘His fourth place yesterday was his best performance for McLaren since the British Grand Prix in July. He is a former world champion and stands 45 points higher than Kevin Magnussen, his team-mate, in the title standings, yet he could be out of work by the end of next month. F1 can be a cruel sport.’

Button wasn’t driver of the day for The Guardian’s Paul Weaver, though, who gave that honour to Nico Rosberg for his recovery drive.

‘There was a parade by Lewis Hamilton, an exhibition almost, with his engine and adrenaline levels turned down,’ he wrote.

‘Rosberg, though, provided the outstanding drive here. He drove 52 laps on the same set of medium tyres to take second place.’

However, The Telegraph’s Daniel Johnson was not as impressed by Rosberg and says the German is running out of answers for Hamilton.

‘Nico Rosberg fluffed his lines after just one corner to leave Lewis Hamilton flying out of Russia with love,’ he wrote.

‘Despite a rousing resurrection after the first lap, Rosberg, by contrast, has lost his mojo and the championship lead he held for the majority of the year. As in the early races, he has run out of answers to the questions Hamilton is posing. Psychologically, the 2008 world champion must now be streets ahead.

‘The German has performed brilliantly this season, but he is running out of answers to the questions Hamilton is posing him. The Briton is on a roll towards his second drivers’ championship. It seems only mechanical gremlins or the farcical double-points rule can stop him.’

It was a difficult weekend for all the teams in Russia following Jules Bianchi’s crash with Hunt describing the paddock as ‘numb’ and Hamilton dedicating his victory to the Frenchman was covered by most of the papers.

There could be further bad news on the horizon for Marussia however, with Eason reporting that Russian venture capitalist Andrey Cheglakov, one of the founding partners of the now defunct Marussia Motors, yet to decide if he wants to continue funding the Manor Competition run outfit.

“Marussia are engulfed in a crisis at a time when their future is in doubt,” he wrote.

“Andrey Cheglakov, the chief investor, was in Sochi for the race, but no word emerged on whether he is prepared to bankroll another season, leaving staff at the factory in Banbury, Oxfordshire, to wonder whether their time in F1 will end on the lowest of notes.”