London, UK – 17 December, 2025 – Multi-System 1 championship-winning crew boss Ross Brawn will obtain the distinguished Autosport Gold Medal on the 2026 Autosport Awards this January, recognising a lifetime of feat that has formed the aggressive and cultural cloth of recent grand prix racing.
The accolade, launched in 2021 and beforehand awarded to Jean Todt, Roger Penske, and Sir Jackie Stewart, celebrates people whose service, management and innovation depart a permanent legacy for generations of followers and rivals.
Brawn’s affect on System 1 spans greater than 4 a long time. He engineered Michael Schumacher’s championship success at Benetton and went on to mastermind Ferrari’s dominant period within the early 2000s, forging one of the crucial profitable partnerships the game has ever seen.
In 2009, his personal crew, Brawn GP, shocked the world by successful each the F1 Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships in its solely season, with Jenson Button’s title run turning into one of the crucial outstanding tales within the sport’s historical past. Extensively considered one of many true architects of recent System 1, Brawn later performed a defining position in shaping the game’s present regulatory panorama and aggressive future.
The Autosport Gold Medal incorporates the Gregor Grant Award, honouring Autosport’s founder and the values that proceed to outline the game as we speak. In 2025, the Awards marked a milestone second by recognising Bernie Ecclestone with a particular seventy fifth Anniversary Trophy, underscoring the legacy awards amongst motorsport’s most important distinctions.
Werner Brell, CEO at Motorsport Community, added: “The Autosport Awards are about celebrating the very highest achievers in motorsport. After recognising so many legends over time, we’re delighted to have the ability to honour Ross Brawn in January. Ross has been one of many iconic figures of System 1 within the final 40 years. Beginning out as an engineer he went on to steer the technical division at Benetton and gained a number of world titles. His partnership with Michael Schumacher continued at Ferrari, the place they dominated the game within the 2000s. He then gained the world championship with a crew in his personal title. I can’t consider a extra worthy recipient for the Gold Medal. It ought to be an ideal night time when he receives his medal honoured by his friends.”
BUSINESS OF RACING NOMINEES REVEALED
Alongside honouring icons of the game, Autosport Awards additionally recognise the broader ecosystem driving motorsport ahead – throughout innovation, business management, promotion, and fan engagement.
Model Partnership of the 12 months
Model partnerships proceed to play a central position in how motorsport groups and sequence join with audiences, ship worth, and construct long-term model fairness. This 12 months’s nominees mirror partnerships which have gone past visibility to drive significant engagement and storytelling throughout the game.
Nominees: Elemis (Aston Martin), Marriott Bonvoy (Mercedes), Santander (F1), Shell, IBM (Ferrari), Ford (Purple Bull Racing)
Promoter of the 12 months
From international vacation spot races to heritage occasions with a long time of historical past, promoters are more and more answerable for shaping the reside motorsport expertise. Based on the Motorsport Community x System 1 2025 World F1 Fan Survey, intent to attend in-person occasions is rising: 41% of surveyed followers who haven’t attended an F1 fan expertise plan to take action sooner or later.
The 2026 nominees recognise occasions that delivered robust attendance, business success, and continued funding within the fan expertise.
Nominees: Miami Grand Prix, Goodwood Pageant of Pace, Silverstone, Singapore Grand Prix, Las Vegas Grand Prix
Pioneering & Innovation
As motorsport enters a interval of fast change, innovation is more and more shaping how the game is raced, regulated, and skilled. This 12 months’s nominees mirror the concepts and initiatives actively redefining motorsport’s subsequent chapter.
Nominees: Greater than Equal, A2RL, Le Mans Final, System E Pit Enhance
Ends
About Autosport Awards
A Motorsport Community occasion, the distinguished Autosport Awards are an annual celebration of excellence in motorsport, uniting champions and innovators from throughout the game, from System 1 to MotoGP, System E, IndyCar, NASCAR, World Rally Championship and extra. On the coronary heart of the Autosport Awards are the followers, who vote on eight main classes, from Driver of the 12 months, to Rookie of the 12 months and Second of the 12 months. This 12 months, a brand new class, Creator of the 12 months displays the rise of creator-led storytelling and the increasing affect of fan-driven voices within the sport. Since 2024, the Autosport Awards have been held on the iconic Roundhouse in London, with the thirty eighth version happening on 21 January, 2026.
About Motorsport Community
Motorsport Community is the world’s largest impartial motorsport and automotive media platform, reaching greater than 40 million distinctive customers every month and interesting over 15 million followers throughout its social media channels. Its portfolio consists of main international manufacturers reminiscent of Motorsport.com, Autosport, InsideEVs, RideApart, Motor1, and GPOne. Motorsport Community connects followers, manufacturers, and the broader motorsport neighborhood, partnering with firms worldwide on sponsorship, promoting, and occasion collaborations that form the way forward for the trade.
About Autosport Enterprise Trade
Launched in 2025, Autosport Enterprise Trade (ABX) is a worldwide occasion sequence that serves because the premier platform for strategic dialogue and networking within the motorsport trade. Following profitable editions in London, New York and Monaco, ABX has introduced collectively senior leaders from internationally of racing, that includes headline audio system reminiscent of Mercedes Crew Principal Toto Wolff, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, and Apple’s Eddy Cue. The U.S. debut of ABX in New York centred on the theme of The Rise of Racing in America, marking a serious milestone for the sequence. The subsequent version will happen in London on the morning of 21 January, 2026, forward of the Autosport Awards.
Learn Additionally:
We wish your opinion!
What would you prefer to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Crew
