Ross Brawn's future in Formula One has been the source of much speculation in recent weeks and he has been linked with several jobs at the top of the sport, including Bernie Ecclestone's.
According to the man himself, the rumours of his new career path are somewhat exaggerated. This week he confirmed that he has been advising the sport's new investors Liberty Media about the workings of Formula One, but says his current involvement ends there.
"I've given a little advice to Liberty Media on Formula One, because they wanted to have a perspective on the business from someone who has been involved and someone who is not involved in a team anymore," Brawn told ESPN. "I didn't have any angles or axes to grind, it was just my view on Formula One and the characters involved and teams etcetera."
Could that role evolve into something more when Liberty completes its purchase of Formula One early next year?
"It's always Liberty's decision, but there has been no serious discussion," Brawn says. "I've given them some help to understand Formula One a bit more and they have to complete the transaction and then see what happens. I think they recognise that Bernie is a pretty key element in all of this, because of the relationships, experience and the knowledge, so I think Liberty appear to be a very sensible company and they are going to proceed cautiously.
"But I hope they take on-board the idea of creating a plan for the future, which is contributed to by a number of elements. What do we want Formula One to look like in three to five years' time? Are the criticisms that are made today fair and can they be addressed? Everyone wants to see more racing, but how much more racing do you want to see because you can have too much of a good thing -- it can seriously get boring if it's there every week and it never changes."
The rumours about Brawn returning to the sport in a rule-making capacity extend back to 2015 when Red Bull boss Christian Horner put the ex-Mercedes team principal forward as a candidate to oversee the changes to the regulations for 2017. Brawn was not a part of those changes in the end, but the idea of a job guiding the direction of the sport via its regulatory body the FIA does hold some appeal.
"That's possible. If that became the best channel to influence and be part of a better Formula One then it's not out of the question. It's not my natural environment if I'm honest, but that's not a criticism of the FIA, it's a criticism of me!
"That may be a possibility for the future, who knows? I think when the dust settles and we see what's going to happen and on what time scale, then we can make better judgements on if I get involved and in what capacity."
But Brawn is clear on one thing: if he does return to Formula One, the sport has to be willing to put a long-term plan in place.
"I think one of the frustrations for me is that there never seemed to be a plan and everything was reactive. Therefore, I think it would be good for Formula One to try to formulate a plan and a strategy of where it wants to be in three years' time or five years' time.
"Formula One has a very impressive engine at the moment, but is that the engine for the future and where does that go? What's going to be the engine in five years' time? Is there going to be another engine and do we know what it is? If there is another engine in five years' time that process needs to start soon with maybe some slightly different objectives to this engine. This engine right now is incredible, but it's quite expensive and makes it difficult for the smaller teams. Can we produce an equally impressive technical challenge but make it more viable for the smaller teams?
"It's those sorts of things, and if you set those objectives now you won't do it next year, but maybe in three years' time or five years' time you will succeed. That plan can be adjusted like all plans, but at least start getting down with all the stakeholders -- the broadcasters, the promoters of the circuits, the teams, the media, journalists and the fans to understand what they want to see -- and then build that plan, debate it, structure it and see what comes out.
"I don't think that's been done yet in Formula One, I think it's been more reactive to problems. [For example, we say] 'the audiences are falling, so we'd better change something, change qualifying!' and we saw what happened there. It wasn't a great success.
"And then its 'Mercedes are dominating, we'd better change the rules'. Well, perhaps that's a solution, but where do we want Formula One to be in three to five years' time? Do we know? Maybe we don't know. But it would seem a better process than waiting to see where we are in three to five years' time."
Interview conducted by Jennie Gow