“That was nice to hear from Christian. That’s how I like to be involved in the sport,” he told The Telegraph from his country house near Henley. “I would never go back to a team. I did everything I can in a team, but I would be repeating myself.

“For sure, trying to help F1 become a better F1 would be appealing. It would be the one thing that could be interesting. If you ask me what F1 needs, it needs a plan; a three-year and a five-year plan. My view is we haven’t got the ideal structure for creating that plan and implementing it over time.”

Brawn is coy on whether there has been any contact with Liberty. The following is hardly a denial. “I think they’re finding their feet,” the former Ferrari technical director says. “They’re being very wise and taking their time. They’ve also got to build their relationship with Bernie [Ecclestone], because he’s not used to having an owner involved in that way.”