Brawn GP (Photo Credit: lipjin)

In what continues to be an interesting off-season in Formula One, Mercedes announced Monday they are going to purchase a 75.1 percent share of Brawn GP.  The team will be operated as a works team starting in 2010.  Mercedes went on to say that they will sell their 40 percent stake in McLaren over the next three years.  The Brawn GP purchasing group includes Aabar Investments along with Mercedes.  Aabar is an Abu Dhabi owned investment firm that holds nine percent of Mercedes parent Daimler.  Mercedes will continue to supply engines to McLaren in the future.

McLaren put out a press release putting a very positive spin on the separation:

http://www.mclaren.com/latestnews/mclaren-news.php?article=380

  It appears Ross Brawn parlayed his magical season of 2009 into a significant payday.  He will retain his role as team principal and manager, all while collecting a handsome reward for his work.  That investment in Honda’s operation paid off.  Should be interesting to see which manufacturer makes the next move.