Brawn To Become Sir Ross?

(Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

The 2009 Formula One season isn't over yet, and there are already calls for Brawn GP owner Ross Brawn to be knighted.

The man who single-handedly brought the Brackley-based Honda team through their worst season in the sport, and then bought the team after the Japanese manufacturer pulled out at the end of 2008, certainly deserves a lot of credit for his efforts.

There are very few people in F1 who dislike Brawn. After spells with Williams, Haas Lola, Arrows, Benetton, Ferrari, Honda, and then as a team owner, he’s been in and out of the sport for 31 years.

A quick look around the F1 paddock and it's easy to see that there aren’t too many people who can achieve Honours from the Queen, such is the foreign ownership of the teams, and the wealth of foreign drivers—the only other British team owner, Sir Frank Williams, has clearly already been honoured for his services to motorsport.

At 54-years-old, it is surprising to note that Brawn has not yet been recognised in the Honours List, despite his achievements, while Lewis Hamilton was made an MBE “for services to sport” in 2009 at the age of just 23 after winning the World Drivers’ Championship last season.

If we can take it to mean that in F1 you actually have to win or do something major to qualify, then we should be seeing an MBE for Jenson Button in the 2010 New Years Honours List, matching that warded to Hamilton, while Brawn surely deserves at least an OBE or CBE.

Former world champions Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell, F1 legend Murray Walker, and former FIA doctor, and F1 race director Professor Sid Watkins have all been awarded an OBE for their services to motor racing and F1.

Williams was awarded a CBE aged 45, and subsequently knighted aged 57, while Brawn is of similar age.

There is no denying Brawn's success in F1, from his days working through the ranks as a mechanic and aerodynamicist at Williams in the late 70s and early 80s, to his influential championship-winning roles as technical director at Benetton in 1994 and 1995, and between 1999 and 2004 in the same role with Ferrari, and finally 2009 with his own team.

That success should surely mean an honour is forthcoming, but should he be knighted? Take part in the poll, and have your say below.

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