Brawn win 2009 F1 constructors’ title

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The Brawn team at Sepang this year

Brawn have won the 2009 F1 constructors’ championship.

Heading into the penultimate race it was a virtual certainty they would beat Red Bull to the crown, as their rivals needed a pair of one-twos from the final race with Brawn not scoring.

Although Mark Webber won the race for Red Bull, both Brawns came home in the points to claims the championship.

The Brackley squad was formed in 1999 as BAR, and was taken over by Honda in 2006. Jenson Button scored the team’s first race win at the Hungaroring that year.

But two disastrous seasons followed and Honda pulled the plug on its F1 operation in the winter of 2008. Many staff, some of whom joined the team when it was founded, feared for the future of their jobs. Now they are world champions.

For months the future of the team was in serious doubt and only an 11th-hour deal allowed the team to carry on, now bearing the name of team principal Ross Brawn.

He must have suspected that their BGP001, which was originally to be the Honda RA109, would have a good turn of speed. But having to ditch the weak Honda power plant and replace it with a more powerful Mercedes, allied to the quick out-of-the-box car allowed the team to dominate the opening rounds of the championship.

Eventually the opposition began to catch up, particularly once the controversial ‘double-diffuser’ pioneered by Brawn and two other teams was confirmed legal by the FIA. Red Bull led the charge, but they simply weren’t quick enough or reliable enough (Brawn have had no mechanical DNFs) to mount beat them.

Their success has helped put the team on a more secure footing. Mercedes are now expected to take a majority stake in the company within the next three years, which is excellent new for Brawn’s long-term future.

Brawn take the title from Ferrari, who scored their record 16th constructors’ title last year.

The British team is the 13th different outfit to win the constructors’ championship:

TeamTitles
Ferrari16
Williams9
McLaren8
Lotus7
Cooper, Brabham and Renault2
Vanwall, BRM, Matra, Tyrrell, Benetton, Brawn1

Read more about Brawn GP

2009 Brazilian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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27 comments on “Brawn win 2009 F1 constructors’ title”

  1. Fantastic Ross. Brilliant Brawn…

  2. BBC have been very annoying with this Brawn “fairytale”

    A team with loads of Honda’s money, a whole extra year to develop the car for the new rule changes…

    What part of that is a fairytale, the fact that they are called Brawn instead of Honda? Did they change everyone in the team? Did they get on new drivers and new members?

    IT’S NOT A FAIRYTALE GET OVER IT BBC

    1. You’re picking ******* out of the pepper. Give credit where credit is due. If you were employed by Brawn last december, you’d be doing cartwheels now, even if you;d been redundent.
      Everyone knows how much Honda;s gratious way of helping the team stay together helped, but it’s still a wonderful end to a story that could easily have gone in the opposite direction.

      Congratulation Brawn and Jenson. And Jenson , Marry that girl.

    2. How about the fact that they nearly went bust and most of the Brawn team spent Winter 2008 wondering if they would even have jobs, before going on to win both the constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships at their first attempt?

  3. So who for next year then? lol

  4. Ross Brawn and Nick Fry did an amazing job of getting their team to the grid after Honda pulled the plug.

    Yes, Honda provided the money to develop the BGP001 during 2008, but let’s be clear, without the efforts of Ross and Nick, the Brackley team would have folded.

    Some 200 team members lost their jobs, but the remaining 600 were given a lifeline, and with the considerable help of Mercedes and the hard work and belief of the whole team, Brawn GP succeeded where Honda F1 and BAR before them had failed. To go from staring down the barrel of shutdown during the winter, to winning the WCC by the close of the season, IS nothing short of amazing.

    Very pleased for the whole team, and wish them every success next year in the defense of their well deserved and hard fought for title.

    Fairytale? Nope. Really happened. An independent team, not expected to make the grid in Melbourne, just won the WCC.

  5. I really am hoping someone from Brawn will thank Honda for their continuing cash infusion all year long.

    Good on them, especially Jenson; I used to call him the “Dear Boy” when he was going through his Williams in again-out again contract squabbles, but he has matured into a solid driver with a capable team and is a very deserving WC.

  6. (Brawn have had no mechanical DNFs)

    didn’t Barichello retire in Turkey with a gearbox problem or something?

    1. he lost 6th i think.
      To be fair he bashed fairly hard before it died.

      He caught on fire as well, didn’t retire but nothings perfect.

  7. Fairytale…? perhaps not..a well resourced team with a lifeline to 2009…two good drivers, the super experienced Ross Brawn and very good engines. Looked very promising in testing.
    Early season form absolutely sensational, reliability hugely impressive. Brawn were able to keep going competitively as others caught up.
    Very well deserved, and hard earned WDC to JB, and constructors championship to Brawn.
    Congratulations to all concerned.
    A beacon of light in a troubled 2009 for F1.
    May the discontent/troubles/etc. of the past season be
    put into the shade by the efforts and success of the Brawn team as a whole.
    Well done lads, the results I hoped and prayed for after
    Australia.
    … A great credit to the Red Bull team for a great fight and some super drives, another very well done.
    … Thanks to all the other teams who have amazed many with their capacity to turn uncompetitive cars into points scorers.
    ..2009 F1..Better than many..and finally..Felipe,
    get well and get back soon.

  8. This is a triumphant moment in F1 history!

    Surely this is the first time a new team has won the championship in their first season?

    Can anybody confirm that?

    Well done to Button as well!

    1. i believe it is the first time a “new” team has won the title. however, the constructor’s title wasn’t awarded until 1958. had it been so in 1953, mercedes would be the first. the bgp001 is easily the most expensive and developed car in the field, and there’s nothing new about the most expensive car winning.

      either way, congrats to brawn gp on a hard fought and well-deserved title.

    2. I think perhaps the Matra entered in 1969 by Ken Tyrell?

    3. dont like it how people call them a ‘new’ team. they had 2 years worth of Honda research and money pouring into the team for the 2009 car.

  9. An amazing outcome for Brawn GP, well done to all involved.

    They showed great sportsmanship by getting Kovalainen back on his way, I thought. Hats off to them.

    1. I thought the same thing about heliping Heikki during the race- very nice touch :)

  10. Congrats to Brawn!

    What’s up though with the Brawn mechanics pulling the fuel rig out of Kovi’s car today? Is that legal (touching a competitor’s vehicle/equipment)? Last year, no one else but Ferrari mechanics went to try and pull out the fuel rig from Massa’s car at Singapore. It must be all that FOTA love going around…

  11. Great job by Brawn and company- esp. when they diden’t think they would even be on the grid this season for much of the winter.

  12. I’m not a big fan of 2009 for the diffuser situation and the first third of the Championship. But when all is said and done, Brawn took a year-one constructor to WCC. I believe Honda developed a great car and ended without knowing just how good it would be, but Brawn did it. The first win in Melbourne felt sort of legendary to me. Brawn is shrewd, but just damned good.

  13. An outstanding effort by Brawn! I can’t congratulate Ross Brawn and Nick Fry enough for what they have done. They rescued a team and made them world champions, just fantastic.

  14. Brawn should list the names of all their staff, past and present, on the side of the cars for the Abu Dhabi GP as a thank you!!

    1. They’ve done that before, when they were BAR, haven’t they? Nice idea, given they haven’t got many sponsors they should definitely do it!

  15. I’m pleased Jenson is WDC, but I’m ecstatic Brawn is WCC. He’s won titles now in 3 very different environments – and he won this one without a Schumi in sight. ;)

    Brawn is a genius, I must say. I’d pretty much rank him dead-even now with Colin Chapman – maybe even ahead of Colin.

  16. I’m pleased Button is WDC, but I’m ecstatic Brawn is WCC. The work they did this winter is nothing short of extraordinary.

    Ross Brawn has now won titles in 3 different environments – and he won this one without a Schumi in sight. ;)

    Ross is an utter genius – I rank him now on the same level as Colin Chapman, maybe even ahead of Colin! And knowing what Colin’s done, that says a lot!

    1. And Gordon Murray just ahead of them both? ;)

  17. Is Brawn officially a privateer/customer team? If so does anyone know the last time one won a championship?

  18. What will be HONDA thinking now?
    May be the Honda engine may not be a as powerful as Mercedes but they could have finished on top 3

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