Ross Brawn has revealed he was turned down a rule-making role in Formula One, something he calls "the least attractive" part of the sport due to the politics and short-term thinking of those in charge.
F1 legend Brawn helped orchestrate Ferrari's dominance in the early 2000s and also won titles with Benetton and his own team in 2009. Since leaving Mercedes in 2013 -- something he put down to a lack of trust in Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff -- Brawn has been regularly linked to a position of power within the sport but says he is not interested in getting embroiled in F1's politics.
"I've been invited to become involved in Formula One again and help perhaps shape the regulations or help shape the future of Formula One," he wrote in his new book Total Competition. "And that invitation is to get involved in the politics of Formula One, because that is what it's all about.
"If someone said, 'do you want to come back and do a bit of engineering?' I could be tempted. But to have to deal with all the politics of Formula One, that was probably the side I enjoyed least of what I did. And therefore the side that is least attractive to me. It is probably the arena I am least comfortable with in Formula One."
Brawn thinks F1 suffers from "short-term thinking" which sees rule-makers looking for quick solutions rather than considering the bigger picture.
"Where Formula One has struggled is in the short-term thinking. I was approached by someone from within the sport to give some views on where Formula One might go.
"I set out my thoughts and I gave my views and they said, 'Yes but that's three years away. We need a solution now'. I said 'There isn't a solution now. The inertia of Formula One is such that you will be sat here in three years' time and not having moved forward.
"'You want a short-term answer to something that doesn't have a short-term answer. But three years will be upon you before you know it.' That was two years ago."
Total Competition: Lessons in strategy from Formula One, written by Brawn and Adam Parr, is published by Simon & Schuster on November 3.