Origins:

Brawn GP was a Formula One constructor who competed solely in the 2009 Formula One World Championship.

The team can trace its origins back to the Tyrrell Racing Organisation – a motorsport team founded by ex-British Formula Two driver Ken Tyrrell in 1958 – which competed in various single-seater championships. After joining Formula One in 1968, the Tyrrell team went on to win the Constructors’ Championship in 1971 and three Drivers’ Championships – in 1969 (as Matra International), 1971 and 1973 – with Jackie Stewart.

The team continued racing in Formula One until 1998, when a series of disappointing results led to Tyrrell selling the team to British American Tobacco (BAT) – having been involved in the sport for many years as a sponsor, with several brands being displayed on cars run by various teams). Whilst BAT owned the team and the Formula One entry, they set up the British American Racing (BAR) team, with their base being a new factory in Brackley.

BAR competed in the top-tier of single-seater motorsport for six years, with their highest result being a second place finish in the Constructors’ Championship in 2004. With increasing restrictions on the advertising of tobacco on the cars, Honda – the engine partner of BAR – acquired full control of the team at the end of the 2005 season and was renamed Honda Racing F1 for the following year. 

Honda confirmed that they would retain Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button as teammates going into 2008, being joined by former Ferrari Technical Director Ross Brawn as Team Principal. They proceeded to have another disappointing year, and by the mid-season had made the decision to switch their focus to the development of the 2009 car – in an attempt to leapfrog other teams in their development for the new regulations.

Honda announced their sudden exit from the sport at the end of the 2008 season, due in part to the existing 2008 Global financial crisis – which saw a rise in the sharp decline in economic activity, and their respective profits dropping by 87% in comparison to the previous financial year.

Brawn GP was formed on the 6th of March 2009 when it was confirmed that the former Technical Director of Honda Racing F1, Ross Brawn, had purchased the team from the Japanese car giant for a symbolic £1. Honda continued to help develop the car for the following season, paying Brawn approximately $150 million in both assets and employee wages – partially due to the fact it was more financially reasonable to give the team away to a third party than to liquidate the entire operation.

On the 17th of March 2009 – just over a week before the season opener – the FIA officially agreed to the name change from Honda Racing F1 Team to Brawn GP. Whilst the team is technically a continuation of the Honda team, the FIA considered Brawn GP to be an entirely fresh entry into the Championship.

Many names were considered for the team including: a revival of the Tyrrell name; and Pure Racing. However, the name Pure Racing was strongly opposed by the new engine supplier Mercedes. This was due to the fact that the constructor name of Pure Racing-Mercedes could have indicated that it was the works team of Mercedes – which was actually McLaren at the time.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello remained with the team throughout the change in ownership, however, their driver’s numbers were changed as a result of Brawn being allocated the final pit-lane spot – as they were refused permission to use Honda’s previous slot. Force India were moved higher up the pitlane but retained their drivers’ numbers due to promotional reasons, and therefore Button and Barrichello were reassigned the numbers 22 and 23 respectively.

2009 Formula One World Championship:

In Qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix – the first round of the 2009 Championship – Jenson Button took pole position, with teammate Rubens Barrichello and Red Bull’s Sebatian Vettel in second and third. Button went on to claim the race win, leading from the start to the finish, with Barrichello crossing the line in second, giving Brawn a 1-2 finish on their debut – a feat that hadn’t happened since Mercedes in the 1954 French Grand Prix.

Button won the rain-shortened Malaysian Grand Prix – the race was stopped at 31 laps due to torrential rain and half-points were awarded as the race did not reach the required 75% distance for full points to be awarded – from pole and claimed the fastest lap. The victory in Malaysia meant Brawn GP became the only new constructor to win their first two races since Alfa Romeo won the first two World Championship Grand Prix’s in 1950.

At the Chinese Grand Prix, Barrichello qualified in front of Button for the first time that season, with Button crossing the line in third ahead of Barrichello in fourth at the chequered flag. Button won again at the Bahrain Grand Prix fourth on the grid, running most of the race in clean air and remained in the lead after the Toyotas pitted and fell down the order. 

The Spanish Grand Prix saw Brawn achieve their second 1-2 of the season, with Button leading from Barrichello. At the Monaco Grand Prix, Button once again qualified on pole, going on to lead the majority of the race ahead of Barrichello, Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. Brawn claimed their third 1-2 finish and Button claimed his first hat trick of wins.

The Turkish Grand Prix saw the Brawns beaten to pole position by Vettel after struggling for pace throughout the Practice sessions. Barichello’s anti-stall cut in at the start of the race meaning he fell to the back of the grid. Button, meanwhile, inherited the lead at Turn 10 when Vettel ran wide, going on to win the race, whilst Barrichello gave Brawn their first retirement of the season.

At the British Grand Prix, both drivers struggled in the team’s home race, with the car struggling to heat up the tyres enough and both struggling with balance issues. Button experienced his worst qualifying of the season in sixth, with Barrichello starting second. In the race Barrichello claimed third, with Button seeing a late charge to move up to sixth. The German Grand Prix saw a similar problem with the tyres not getting up to temperature. Despite Qualifying in second and third, Barichello finished the race in sixth after suffering a faulty fuel rig, and Button managed to claim fifth after the team inverted their pit-stop laps to lessen his disadvantage to title contenders Webber and Vettel, who finished in first and second respectively.

At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Brawn suffered from more uncompetitiveness with Button qualifying in eighth and Barrichello in thirteenth – Barichello’s underperformance was caused by his rear suspension failing, causing a spring to fall off and subsequently strike Felipe Massa on the helmet, resulting in serious head injuries. In the race, neither driver showed much pace until the temperature rose, with Button becoming the fastest man on the track at that point. Button managed to repass Jarno Trulli during the final pit stops and finish seventh, with Barichello rounding out the top-ten.

At the European Grand Prix, Barrichello claimed his first victory in five years – one of the longest gaps between Grand Prix victories in Formula One history – after starting from third place on the grid. The Belgian Grand Prix saw Button taken out by Romain Grosjean on the first lap, whilst Barrichello experienced a clutch issue at the start, managing to make his way back up to seventh place, before his engine burst into flames when entering the pit lane.

The Italian Grand Prix, saw the Brawns’ starting in fifth (Barrichello) and sixth (Button), with both making it past Kovalainen in the opening laps, keeping their pace high to complete their final one-two of the season – Barrichello with the race win and Button in second.

Brawn had the opportunity to claim the 2009 Constructors’ Championship as early as the Japanese Grand Prix. With the drivers finishing in seventh and eighth place, Brawn were left with just half a point from winning the Constructors’ Championship. After the conclusion of the race, the stewards announced that they would investigate Nico Rosberg for excessive speed under Safety car conditions. Whilst a typical 25-second penalty would have promoted both Brawn drivers up a position and the Championship would have been won, it was later announced that no further action would be undertaken and the race result would stand.

The Brazilian Grand Prix saw Button victorious in the World Drivers’ Championship after finishing in fifth place. Barrichello crossed the line in eighth place to give Brawn enough points to claim the Constructors’ Championship with one race in hand.

The team had a race win success rate of 47.05% (8 wins in 17 races). By winning both titles in their only year of competition, the team is the first ever to achieve a 100% Championship success rate.

Sale to Mercedes-Benz

On the 16th of November 2009, it was announced that Daimler AG – in partnership with Aabar Investments – had purchased a 75.1% stake in Brawn GP. The team would be rebranded as Mercedes GP for the 2010 season, utilising the Brawn GP base in Brackley for its operations, and Ross Brawn staying on as Team Principal until the conclusion of the 2013 season.

Drivers Standings:

Below is the standings for the top-ten in the World Drivers’ Championship:

Pos.	Driver	Points
1	Jenson Button	95
2	Sebastian Vettel	84
3	Rubens Barrichello	77
4	Mark Webber	69.5
5	Lewis Hamilton	49
6	Kimi Raikkonen	48
7	Nico Rosberg	34.5
8	Jarno Trulli	32.5
9	Fernando Alonso	26
10	Timo Glock	24

Constructors Standings:

Pos.	Constructor	Points
1	Brawn-Mercedes	172
2	Red Bull-Renault	153.5
3	McLaren-Mercedes	71
4	Ferrari	70
5	Toyota	59.5
6	BMW Sauber	36
7	Williams-Toyota	34.5
8	Renault	26
9	Force India-Mercedes	13
10	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	8

Jenson Button

Jenson Button is a British racing driver, who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Jota. He competed in Formula One between 2000 and 2017, winning the World Drivers’ Championship in 2009 with Brawn.

Button began karting at the age of eight, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British Formula 3 Championship – becoming the 1998 Champion in British Formula Ford and finishing third in British Formula 3 in 1999.

His debut in Formula One came with Williams for the 2000 season, switching to Benetton for the following year. In 2003 he moved to the British American Racing team. Button finished third in the 2004 World Drivers’ Championship, before claiming ninth in the following season. BAR was renamed to Honda for the 2006 season, with the Briton claiming his maiden Grand Prix victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix after 113 races.

After a management buyout of Honda, Button was recruited as a driver for Brawn GP, winning a record-equalling six of the first seven races for the 2009 season, before going on to secure the World Drivers’ Championship at the Brazilian Grand Prix, having led on points all season.

At the start of the 2010 season, he made a move to McLaren, partnering fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton. He finished fifth for the team in 2010, runner-up in the 2011 season, and then fifth again in the 2012 Championship. Button retired at the end of the 2016 season, after four more seasons at McLaren resulted in no further victories. He made a one-off return at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix to deputise for Fernando Alonso.

From the 306 races that Button started, he claimed 15 victories, 8 pole positions, 50 podium finishes and scored a total of 1,235 Championship points.

After his Formula One career, Button went on to become Champion of the Super GT Series in 2018 alongside Naoki Yamamoto for Team Kunimitsu. He also competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series for Rick Ware Racing.

Button returned to the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2024, racing for Team Jota alongside Phil Hanson and Oliver Rasmussen. He is set to remain with the team for the 2025 season in the Hypercar category sharing the Cadillac V-Series.R after the team changed manufacturers from Porsche to Cadillac.

Rubens Barrichello

Rubens Barrichello is a Brazilian racing driver and broadcaster, currently competing in the Stock Car Pro Series for Full Time Sports. Barrichello competed in Formula One from 1993 to 2011, finishing as runner-up in the World Drivers’ Championship in 2002 and 2004 with Ferrari. In Stock Car Racing, Barrichello is a two-time Champion of the Stock Car Pro Series in 2014 and 2022.

Barrichello began his career in karting, winning several national titles before eventually progressing to junior formulae in 1989. Barrichello moved to Europe the following year, winning his first title at the Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries before also taking the title in the 1991 British Formula Three Championship with West Surrey. He progressed to International F3000 in 1992, finishing in third place in his rookie season.

Barrichello signed for Jordan in 1993, making his Formula One debut at the South African Grand Prix. He retained his seat for the 1994 season, achieving his maiden podium at the Pacific Grand Prix and finished sixth in the World Drivers’ Championship. After two further seasons with Jordan – claiming another podium at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix – Barrichello signed with Stewart for the 1997 Championship – claiming several podiums along with his maiden pole position at the French Grand Prix in 1999.

Barrichello signed with Ferrari in 2000 to partner Michael Schumacher, taking his maiden victory at the German Grand Prix that year. He finished runner-up twice to Schumacher in 2002 and 2004, and helped Ferrari to claim five consecutive World Constructors’ Championships. 

Barrichello joined Honda – later known as Brawn GP – in 2006, finishing third in the World Drivers’ Championship in 2009 and helping the team claim the Constructors’ Championship. He later moved to Williams in 2010, alongside being appointed the chairman position of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association. After two years with Williams, Barrichello retired from Formula One, having achieved 11 victories, 14 pole positions, 17 fastest laps and 68 podiums – the latter which remains the record for a non-World Champion.

After competing in Formula One, Barrichello competed in the IndyCar Series in 2012 with KV Racing Technology. He later returned to Brazil to compete in the Stock Car Series, winning the championship in 2014 and 2022.