Ross Brawn denies Formula 1 job speculation

Brawn said in an interview last week that he was interested in a return to the sport

Ross Brawn says he has not accepted any position running Formula 1 under the sport's new owners.

The 61-year-old former Mercedes F1 boss told BBC Sport he was doing some consultancy work for Liberty Media, which is in the process of buying a controlling stake in F1.

But he said the company was not ready to make any definitive job offers.

"Liberty have not got far enough down the road to make any commitments yet," said the Englishman.

"I'm doing a little consulting to help them better understand F1 but that's all."

Brawn was said by a report in Germany's Auto Bild to have signed a deal with Liberty to run their involvement in the sporting and commercial aspects of F1.

F1 Racing magazine has also tweeted that the deal was done.

But Brawn told BBC Sport it "all depends" what Bernie Ecclestone, the chief executive officer of the F1 Group, does in the future.

• You can hear an in-depth interview with Ross Brawn on 5 Live Formula 1 on Thursday at 21:00 GMT on BBC Radio 5 live

Liberty Media has, for the time being, kept Ecclestone on in his role, under new chairman Chase Carey.

Ecclestone has said he has been given a three-year contract but there has been no official confirmation from Liberty.

The 86-year-old is expected to leave in the medium to long term, and many insiders believe he will be replaced by at least two executives - one to look after the commercial side of the sport; the other the sporting side.

Ecclestone has sole responsibility for both areas. His prime role is to secure the sport's income, which is sourced from television contracts, race fees and external corporate sponsorship.

But he also has a role in rule-making through the strategy group, on which the leading teams and governing body the FIA also sit, and the next steps of the legislative process, the FIA's F1 Commission and World Council.

This protocol is enshrined in the teams' contracts until 2020, after which a new deal will have to be reached. Negotiations on that have not started and will be among Liberty's first concerns.

Its buy-out of controlling shareholder CVC Capital Partners in a $4.4bn deal began in September and is expected to be completed by early next year.