He’s engineered glorious victories for the best drivers in the world – and now Ross Brawn’s formula for success is helping the RNLI build a new lifeboat.

Ross Brawn is no stranger to spending hours watching teams pit their skills against one another. Since joining the Williams Formula One racing team as a mechanic in 1977, the now 54-year-old has become one of the sport’s most successful and highly respected figures. His mastery of both mechanics and race tactics were instrumental when his Brawn GP team won the Formula One Driver and Constructor Championships in 2009. Equally important were his business nous and inspirational leadership skills – and it is those qualities that he has freely given to the RNLI on the day that I meet him.

In a fundraising competition titled The Brawn Lifeboat Challenge, Ross has joined forces with the RNLI to raise £350,000 towards the charity’s own new, speedy vehicle: an E class lifeboat for the River Thames. Today, 11 teams from the UK’s leading companies have been nervously presenting fundraising ideas to Ross at the RNLI’s London Office. Each team has come up with an innovative way of using a £1,000 starter fund, donated by their respective companies, to raise as much as possible by the end of 2010. After listening carefully to each ‘pitch’, Ross has been offering his advice on how to best set about those projects.

‘I’ve long been an RNLI supporter, but must admit it was a bit of a surprise when I found out there are lifeboats on the Thames,’ says Ross, who began this day in the heart of London by meeting members of the Chiswick and Tower lifeboat crews. ‘Until now, my main experiences of the RNLI were seeing the Padstow lifeboat launch – I have a holiday home in Cornwall near that lifeboat station, and as a family we watch the crew

in action and follow what they’ve been up to on the website. Then I heard how busy the London crews are too, and what a huge range of rescues they carry out. So I’m really proud to be involved in the challenge and glad to be able to help.’

Ross listened to pitches from two Barclays teams, Clifford Chance, Zurich, Charles Russell, Southern Electric, JP Morgan, Lloyd’s Register, Capital International, John Lewis and M&G Investments. ‘This challenge combines many of my passions: competition, the desire to be the best, and, of course, innovation,’ enthuses Ross. ‘But, more than that, it’s about people. Working together to bring the best out in one another, and supporting each other through the highs and lows.’ As this magazine hits supporters’ doormats, Ross will be preparing to scrutinise the teams’ first quarterly reports of their progress. So, how does Ross think the teams will fare – and is he willing to say who is likely to raise the most money and win the challenge?’

‘We’ll have to wait and see!’ he smiles. ‘Some of the pitches were really exciting and shooting for the moon with ambitious projects, others were simple but potentially very effective. The great thing is that many of the ideas were sustainable, so they could raise money for the RNLI long after the challenge is over. But the key to their success will be teamwork.’

It’s this emphasis on teamwork that has earned Ross so much praise from his Formula One colleagues, including the reigning World Champion Jenson Button, and the most successful driver of all time, Michael Schumacher. Having won a host of driver and constructor titles while working with Schumacher under the Benetton and Ferrari teams in the 1990s and 2000s, Ross set up his own team, Brawn GP, in 2009. This year, as Team Principal of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team, Ross was reunited with Schumacher when the German came out of retirement.

Formula One is a glamorous business, with drivers competing for glory and cold, hard cash – a million miles away from the world of voluntary lifesaving. But both lifeboat crews and racing teams rely on well-engineered machines and excellent leadership to succeed in potentially dangerous circumstances. Safety has to be paramount: ‘You never cut corners on safety. If we were in a race that we could win, but the car could fail, I would stop the car because a race isn't that important,’ explains Ross. ‘It’s a golden rule.’

So, assuming the car is as safe as possible, how does Ross go about making those mid-race tactical decisions from the pit wall that could spell the difference between victory and failure for his drivers? ‘My decisions are not these sudden moments of inspiration, or big gambles. Usually you map out the scenarios beforehand and prepare for them.’

It’s been a long day and, after nearly 12 hours of pitches and media interviews, Ross is ready for a rest – but he is keen to sing the praises of the RNLI. ‘When I see the lifeboats launch on a rescue, and meet people like the Thames crew members I met today, you can just tell that they are part of a fantastic team,’ says Ross. ‘The RNLI’s engineers have used their skills to design this new lifesaving boat for the Thames [see page 15], and they rely on the rest of the team to realise that vision. And that’s where this challenge comes in. I told all the teams that pitched today that they will learn from it and enjoy it but, more than that, they are now part of the RNLI’s team and, from here on in, they are in the business of saving lives.’

You can follow the competition's progress at rnli.org.uk/brawn.