Image: Morio, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 & GFDL.
Big changes were made in 2009, when Brawn GP rolled into the 2009 F1 season, few people expected anything more than survival.
Just months earlier, Honda had pulled the plug on their F1 project, leaving the entire workforce in limbo, 2008 season was a disaster for them, finishing last.
However, the team was saved at the last minute by Ross Brawn, who bought the operation for a symbolic £1.
What followed was nothing short of one of the greatest underdog fairytales in sporting history.
What was the secret?
The secret weapon was the BPG 001 and it’s controversial ‘double diffuser’.
The FIA had written 2009 regulations to slash downforce, hoping to make overtaking easier, but as often happens in F1, clever engineers spotted a crack in the wording.
Double diffuser allowed extra openings on vertical bodywork surfaces, by exploiting this, the car’s diffuser, normally just one airflow channel, was turned into a multi-layered design.
The result was simple, more downforce, more grip and more corner speed, Brawn’s rival were surprised and reacted immediately,but court sided with the innovators, what was legal, was legal, and Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams pressed on with the advantage.
It didn’t took long for Renault team, who already had the prototypes before the mid-season.
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Lightning in a bottle
The biggest surprise came in Australia, no one was prepared for what happened there, at the season opener, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello locked out the front row and then finished one-two on Sunday.
The paddock stood stunned, this was a team that had nearly gone bust, suddenly dominated giants like Ferrari and McLaren.
Jenson Button kept the hammer down, winning six of the first seven races, by the time rivals scrambled to copy the diffuser, the damage was already done.
Brawn GP’s early dominance gave them a cushion no ammount of Red Bull or McLaren development could erase.
Surviving on scraps
Yet the dominance did not last forever, unlike the giants they were fighting, Brawn did not have enough budget, as rivals poured resources into upgrades, the white-and-dayglo cars slowly lost their edge.
But Ross Brawn had seen this coming, the strategy shifted from attack to survival, take points where possible and avoid unnecessary risks, and let the early season lead do the heavy lifting.
In the second part of the season, McLaren started to come back, Ferrari, Red Bull in some races.
However, Button played his part perfectly, even when the car was no longer the quickest, he stayed consistent, finishing races, collecting points and never losing sight of the bigger picture.
By the time the Brazilian GP arrived, a gritty fifth place was enough to crown him World Champion, Brawn GP had also sealed the Constructors’ championship, an achievement that seemed unthinkable at the start of the year!
The miracle ingredients
Looking back, the story feels like a perfect storm, Honda’s heavy investment gave the team a head start before they walked away.
Everyone was waiting for the big teams like McLaren or Ferrari to start the season strong, but somebody was preparing something more, even BMW was expected to be up there but things changed before the season even started.
And the last minute deal with Mercedes, handed them a superbly reliable V8 engine that slotted neatly into the chassis, above all, the calm, calculated leadership of Ross Brawn turned chaos into opportunity.
It was a fairytale built on ingenuity timing and a willingness to gamble on a loophole that everyone else had overlooked, in a sport dominated by billion-dollar budgets, Brawn Proved that sometimes, brains really can beat brute force.
The team was bought by Mercedes for 2010, the team signed Michael Schumacher for the new season.
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