Brawn GP News

Press Release from Mercedes GP Petronas

The MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team can confirm today that seven-times Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher will make his racing return in 2010 with the Silver Arrows team.

With seven Drivers’ World Championships, 248 Grand Prix starts, 91 victories, 154 podium finishes and 68 pole positions, the 40-year old German needs no introduction following an illustrious and record-breaking Formula One career from 1991 to 2006 at the Jordan, Benetton and Ferrari teams.

Michael’s return to racing with MERCEDES GP PETRONAS sees his return to Mercedes-Benz Motorsport where he began his racing apprenticeship as part of the Junior Programme in 1990, racing in Group C sports cars and DTM, and sees Michael renew his partnership with Ross Brawn with whom he won all seven of his World Championships.

Today’s announcement confirms the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS driver line-up for the 2010 season with Michael partnering his compatriot, 24 year old Nico Rosberg, in the Silver Arrows cars.

Michael Schumacher: “MERCEDES GP PETRONAS represents a new challenge for me both in a sporting and a personal context. It is a new chapter in my racing career and I am really looking forward to working with my old friend Ross Brawn and my companions from my days with the Mercedes Junior Programme. I am convinced that together we will be involved in the fight for the Formula 1 World Championship next year and I am already looking forward to getting back onto the race track. For me, this partnership closes the circle. Mercedes supported me for so many years when I began my Formula 1 career and now I can hopefully give something back to the brand with the star.”

Nico Rosberg: “It is fantastic that Michael is returning to Formula One and will be my team-mate at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS. It’s a great challenge for me to be up against one of the best drivers of all time. I’m sure that we will form a very strong partnership as he will have lost none of his speed! It is also great news for our sport and the fans.”

Ross Brawn, Team Principal of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS: “I am delighted that we can confirm today that Michael will make his much-anticipated return to Formula One next year and drive for our MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team. As seven-time World Champion, Michael’s outstanding record in Formula One speaks for itself and I am looking forward to working with him again. With the completion of our driver line-up, I believe that we now have the most exciting partnership in Formula One with Michael and Nico, who provide the perfect mix of talent, experience, speed and youth. We can now turn our full attention to the preparations for the new season and everyone at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS is extremely excited about the challenge ahead. With the investment and support in our team provided by Daimler, Aabar and our new title partner Petronas, and with two such exciting drivers, we have all of the building blocks in place to have another successful season in 2010.”

Norbert Haug, Vice-President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsports: “In April 1991, when I had been in charge of the Mercedes-Benz Motorsport programme for just six months, Michael was standing beside me on the balcony one evening. Without the slightest doubt, he said in a low voice: “It’s about time that I got into Formula 1”. Michael had just turned 22 years of age and four months later, he made his debut at Spa in a Jordan. Mercedes-Benz helped him to this point and the rest is history: seven World Championship titles, more than any racing driver, 91 Grand Prix wins, more than any racing driver. Michael has more of everything than every other driver. As part of the Mercedes Junior Programme, Michael had raced in Group C sports cars and competed in a few DTM races. Ross Brawn, then our opponent at Jaguar, quickly realised Michael’s talent and they went on to win all seven of his Drivers’ World Championship titles together at Benetton and Ferrari. Our sporting ambition has always been that Michael should drive again where his professional career had started and Michael knew that. We often joked about it after the races and discussed the prospect seriously several times during the last 14 years in Formula 1. It didn’t happen in 1995, it didn’t happen in 1998 and it didn’t happen in 2005. I am delighted that it will now happen in 2010. I am very much looking forward to working with Michael and everybody at Mercedes-Benz and Daimler extends a very warm welcome to our ‘apprentice’ of 19 years ago. That apprentice is now the most successful racing driver of all time.”

Mercedes-Benz will enter the Formula 1 World Championship with its own team, beginning with the 2010 season, and Daimler AG and McLaren Group will change their form of cooperation with effect as of 13 November 2009. This was announced by Daimler AG today.

Daimler AG together with Aabar Investments PJSC will take over 75.1 per cent of the Brawn GP team, with Daimler taking 45.1 per cent and Aabar 30 per cent. The rest of the 24.9 per cent will remain with the current stakeholders. With 9.1 per cent, Aabar is the biggest single shareholder of Daimler AG. This transaction is subject to the approval of the EU and the Swiss cartel authorities.

The background to this decision are the new terms and conditions for Formula 1. The “Resource Restrictions” set by FOTA and FIA effectively limit expenditure for the design, construction and running of the racing cars. In addition, there will be a significantly higher income available for a Formula 1 team generated by the commercial rights of the racing series following the signing of the new Concorde Agreement.

The partnership between McLaren Mercedes has been in place since 1995 and endedits 15th joint Formula 1 season in 2009. The change to the form of cooperation is taking place by mutual agreement. Mercedes-Benz and McLaren will continue to co-operate with each other and the supply of engines could continue until 2015.

The McLaren Group have set themselves new targets, especially in the automotive sector, and Daimler understands and respects these new strategic objectives. For this reason, it has been agreed that the buy-back by the McLaren Group of the 40 per cent McLaren share owned by Daimler AG will be completed by 2011.

By taking this decision, Mercedes-Benz resumes its marvellous motor racing history on the 75th anniversary of the Silver Arrows, the world’s most unique racing cars. Mercedes wants to continue the tradition in the style of these flawless Silver Arrows, which put their stamp on each era by winning the majority of the races they competed in.

“Mercedes-Benz is the most valued and best-known premium automotive brand in the world. This brand looks for competition of the utmost quality in all relevant fields in order to continually improve its performance in the face of such new challenges”, explains Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

“Due to the new Formula 1 environment, we will face the competition in future on the most important motor sports stage with our own Silver Arrow works team.

“Our new Silver Arrow Formula 1 team is a great sporting and technical challenge and we will tackle this with sporting spirit and full of enthusiasm.”

Mercedes-Benz will restructure their Formula 1 programme and work hard to achieve further savings, going beyond the already completed steps for significant cost reductions and improved efficiency.

Since 1995, the beginning of the partnership, McLaren and Mercedes-Benz have competed in 256 Grand Prix events and have achieved 60 victories. In 1998, 1999 and 2008, the British-German team won the drivers’ World Championships, as well as the World Constructors’ Championship in 1998. The McLaren Mercedes team became runner-up in the World Championships ten times, with five times in the drivers’ and constructors’ rankings respectively.

After winning the drivers’ title with Lewis Hamilton last year, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes finished third in the World Constructors’ Championships this year. The 2008 World Champion won two races with his current car, the MP4-24, achieving a first historic victory with the brake energy-recovery system, KERS Hybrid. No other driver scored more points in the last eight races from the season’s total of 17 races than Lewis Hamilton.

“I want to thank McLaren for a successful collaboration over the last decade and a half”, says Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. “For the benefit of both Mercedes and McLaren, we will continue our partnership cooperation in future. We will be rivals on-track but, off-track, we will cooperate with McLaren and the other teams in order to create the best possible product for spectators worldwide.”

“We look back on 15 successful years of great collaboration with McLaren; in that time, we won four world-championship titles and finished ten times as runner-up in the drivers’ and constructors’ rankings,” states Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. “Since the first victory in the 1997 Australian Grand Prix, the modern Silver Arrows have achieved a total of 60 victories in 223 races to ensure that our brand symbol, the star, stands for the greatest successes in Formula 1. We thank our partner and will continue to work with McLaren based on an excellent partnership.”

Mercedes Grand Prix, the management team of the former Brawn GP team, will continue to work under the leadership of Ross Brawn, who will continue in his well-known role. The Formula 1 team, as well as the engine team of Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, will be co-ordinated by Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, headed by their Vice-President, Norbert Haug.

“Brawn GP has been through an incredible journey over the last 12 months. From fighting for our survival to forging a strong relationship with Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, winning both the Constructors and Drivers World Championships, and now accepting Daimler and Aabars offer to buy our team, which will secure its future”, Team Principal Ross Brawn looks back on a difficult beginning of the year which eventually turned into an extremely successful season.

“Both I and my fellow Directors at Brawn GP are incredibly proud of our staff, drivers and everyone associated with our team and thank them for their commitment, outstanding teamwork and their focus on achieving results in sometimes difficult circumstances. The senior management group will remain in place to lead our team and on behalf of everyone at Brawn GP, we are honoured to be representing such a prestigious brand as Mercedes-Benz in Formula One next year and will be working together to do our best to reward their faith in our team.”

The new Silver Arrow team, Mercedes Grand Prix, will compete in Formula 1 as a works team in its own right. Synergies between the 100 per cent Daimler-owned subsidiary Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth, UK, and the Mercedes Grand Prix team based about 28 miles from there in Brackley in the UK, will create even greater efficiency.

It is our target to develop a model for our Formula 1 activities which will initially be run with significantly reduced budgets by Mercedes-Benz and which, in the foreseeable future, will be self-financing”, comments Norbert Haug. “Furthermore, we naturally want to inspire our faithful spectators and TV viewers worldwide and maximize media coverage for our brand. With Formula 1, Mercedes-Benz can continue to clearly demonstrate its willingness to compete and win on the most important motor sports competition stage in the world.”

Khadem Al Qubaisi, Chairman, Aabar Investment PJSC comments: “Aabar is delighted to join forces with Daimler AG and its world leading brand Mercedes-Benz in order to create a new Formula One Team which follows in the footsteps of the longstanding and successful tradition of the famous ‘Silver Arrows’.

“Ever since Aabar became the largest shareholder in Daimler AG, the cooperation between our two organisations has been exemplary, and we have already co-invested in Tesla. Aabar is confident that further successes will follow in this arena.

“Bearing in mind the recent outstanding success of the Abu Dhabi GP, which brought Formula One to the United Arab Emirates for the first time, it is especially exciting to realise that next year, our own cars will be in the field, with the genius of Ross Brawn, who is still deeply involved with the team, now backed by the unrivalled excellence of Mercedes-Benz across the entire spectrum of automotive technology. It is a fantastic prospect, which makes me both pleased and proud for my country.”

Brawn GP’s Jenson Button finished in seventh position at the Hungarian Grand Prix today with team-mate Rubens Barrichello bringing his Brawn-Mercedes car home just outside the points in 10th place.

Jenson had a reasonable getaway from eighth on the grid and had maintained his starting position by lap two whilst Rubens was touched by another car going into turn two resulting in some damage to his left sidepod and dropped back to 18th position.

Both drivers were heavily fuelled on different tyre strategies with Jenson stopping first on lap 25 to swap his option tyres for a new set. Rubens started on the harder prime tyre and stayed with that compound at his first stop on lap 33 when it was evident that Jenson was struggling with the softer rubber.

After a long middle stint, Jenson pitted on lap 55 with some quick lap times and good work in the pit lane enabling him to jump Trulli for seventh place. Rubens switched to the options on lap 57 and quickly caught up Nakajima and Trulli but was unable to get past on a track notoriously difficult for overtaking.

RESULTS

Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Race Result / Fastest Lap
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 P7 01:22.706
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-01 P10 01:23.024

Weather Warm and sunny
Temperatures Air: 25-26°C Track: 37-45°C

JENSON BUTTON
“We felt positive that we could get a good result today but unfortunately it turned into damage limitation for our championship challenge. I was heavily fuelled after qualifying and our plan was to get a good start, stay with the cars in front and then I was going longer at the first stop. My rear tyres grained massively in the first few laps which took away any chance that I had of keeping pace with the front-runners. We don’t know what the problem is right now as our pace on the option tyre on Friday was pretty good and we were able to manage the rear end much better than some of the others. The car just doesn’t feel like it did a few races ago but we’ll work hard to identify the problems before Valencia. It’s disappointing as we had high hopes for this race but we were fortunate to come away with two points.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“There was some good action out there but my race was really compromised from the start which is a shame as the potential was definitely there for a points finish. I had some contact from another car when I turned into the second corner which dropped me to the back of the field. It was always going to be difficult to make progress from there but there were flashes of pace, particularly during the last stint when I was able to close up to the cars ahead. It’s been a very difficult weekend and one to forget really. We know that we have a lot of hard work ahead of us to find out what is affecting our performance.”

ROSS BRAWN
“Hungary has proved to be a very challenging weekend for the team which has left us with a number of questions to answer regarding the performance of the car. After a positive start on Friday where we felt that we had a good understanding of the tyres, they proved to be our main area of concern in the race today. Both drivers tried different strategies with their tyre choices but we were unable to prevent the graining which affected their pace at crucial stages of the race. We have four weeks until the next race and after our factory shutdown we will be working extremely hard to identify the cause of our recent issues and make the improvements required to return to our early season form. Finally congratulations to Mercedes-Benz on a very well-deserved win today for what is their seventh victory of the season.”

Qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix today was overshadowed by an accident suffered by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa towards the end of the second session. Rubens, Jenson and everyone at the Brawn GP team sends their very best wishes to Felipe.

Jenson and Rubens progressed through the first qualifying session with relative ease although Rubens suffered from traffic on his final flying lap and Jenson’s lap was compromised by yellow flags in the final sector. Q2 was going well when Rubens suffered a problem with the rear of the car at turn three on his second flying lap and was forced to return to the pits. Having again been caught in traffic on his first timed run, his best time was only enough for 13th position.

Jenson sat out for the first half of Q3 as the team changed a component as a precautionary measure and he therefore took to the track with just under three and a half minutes remaining and with a heavier fuel load than planned. Jenson had enough time for one run which put him in eighth position on the grid.

RESULTS

Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice Qualifying 1 Qualifying 2 Qualifying 3
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 P17 P10 01:21.471 P6 01:20.707 P8 01:22.511
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-01 P13 P12 01:21.558 P13 01:21.222

Weather Warm and sunny with a strong breeze

JENSON BUTTON
“The car felt reasonably good through the first two sessions today although none of my laps were perfect due to traffic and yellow flags. I thought we would be competitive in Q3 but unfortunately the work required on the car meant that I was only able to get one run and that was on a heavy fuel load with four more laps of fuel than we had planned. We were on the edge of the working range for the tyres today with the cooler temperatures so the car wasn’t handling quite as well as in practice. Starting from eighth on the grid isn’t ideal and I’m on the dirty side but we’re remaining positive and will see what we can do from there. Hopefully we will hear that Felipe is ok and we are thinking of him.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“We had a great plan for qualifying today and I was confident that we could have a really good session. Unfortunately I had the problem with the rear of the car on my second timed lap in Q2 and I had to come into the pits and abandon the lap. I was unlucky to have had traffic on my first lap otherwise that might have been enough to make it into the top ten. Starting from 13th at this circuit where it is almost impossible to overtake will make for a really tough race tomorrow but at least we can choose the fuel load and we’ll give everything to get some points. But my position today is unimportant. My thoughts right now are with Felipe and his family who are really close friends of mine and I hope he is going to be ok and will be fit as soon as possible.”

ROSS BRAWN
“A very difficult day for the team today and most importantly we hope to hear soon that Felipe is ok. Qualifying was going well for both drivers in Q1 and Q2 before Rubens’ car had a problem at turn three on his final run of the session, costing him a place in the top ten. We changed the same part on Jenson’s car as a precaution just before the start of the final qualifying session. The process was completed as quickly as possible but left Jenson with only one chance of a flying lap. Having already fuelled the car at the start of Q3, he was therefore considerably heavier than planned and didn’t have a particularly good balance. It is of course frustrating to have qualified in these positions after a good start to the weekend yesterday but we have two good strategies and will take advantage of any opportunities which arise to score as many points as possible.”

In hot and sunny conditions, Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button completed a busy Friday testing programme with their Brawn-Mercedes cars which feature a number of aerodynamic upgrades this weekend. In addition to running the new aero parts on track for the first time, the pair focused on an evaluation of the two Bridgestone Potenza tyres for this race, the soft compound prime tyre and the super soft option tyre.

Rubens and Jenson completed 129 laps of the 4.381km Hungaroring during today’s two sessions, successfully working through their planned programmes and collecting valuable data to give the team a good start going into the weekend.

RESULTS

Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice 1 Free Practice 2
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-01 24 laps 01:23.209 P13 38 laps 01:22.641 P7
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 25 laps 01:23.130 P10 42 laps 01:22.806 P13

Weather Hot and sunny
Temperatures Air: 24-29°C Track: 30-47°C

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“Our programme today was to work with the two tyre compounds to fully understand their working range and the impact on the set-up and balance of the car. Most of my day was focused on evaluating the prime tyre which proved not have a great deal of grip so it was important to establish some set-up assumptions. We then tried the option tyre later this afternoon which seemed to be quicker. Overall I’m pretty happy with our progress today.”

JENSON BUTTON
“It’s been a much better Friday for us than at the last couple of races. Obviously the temperatures are higher here which works in our favour and we have some good aerodynamic updates to the car for this race. We achieved a lot of important work today with the tyres and whilst we have some way to go to get them working at their optimum, it’s a good start to the weekend.”

ROSS BRAWN
“A productive day for us today and we’re pleased with the amount of set-up work that we have been able to achieve over the two sessions. The initial feedback from the performance improvements that we’ve brought to this race looks positive and both Rubens and Jenson were happy with the progress made. The temperatures were pretty much as we expected with the hot and sunny conditions enabling us to make reasonable use of the tyres and develop our understanding of their performance characteristics. We will now look through the data this evening to ensure we are ready for qualifying, which is crucial here as there are limited overtaking opportunities, but overall a positive start to our weekend.”

Brawn GP’s Jenson Button secured his third pole position of the season at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona today in qualifying for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello put his Brawn-Mercedes car on the second row of the grid after a closely-fought qualifying hour and will start from third place.

Jenson and Rubens both used the Bridgestone Potenza prime tyre for their first run in Q1 before switching to the softer option tyre for the remainder of the hour. The pair were closely matched throughout qualifying with Rubens having the advantage over the low fuel runs in Q1 and Q2, posting the fastest lap of the day at the end of Q2.

After crossing the line for his final flying lap in Q3 with just two seconds to spare, Jenson put in a fantastic lap on his race fuel load to snatch pole position from Sebastian Vettel. Rubens rounded off a great result for the team with his third place.

RESULTS

Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice Qualifying 1 Qualifying 2 Qualifying 3
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 P3 P3 01:20.707 P5 01:20.192 P1 01:20.527
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-01 P4 P6 01:20.808 P1 01:19.954 P3 01:20.762

Weather Warm and sunny
Temperatures Air: 23-24°C Track: 35-41°C

JENSON BUTTON
“An unexpected but very pleasing pole position today and it is probably my most satisfying pole of the season. Rubens been really quick all weekend and I was able to benefit from that by looking at his set-up to overcome some of the issues that we faced in practice yesterday. My final lap in Q3 was by far the best lap that I’ve had this weekend but it was a bit close crossing the line with just two seconds to spare The upgrades that we have on the car here are performing well and it is certainly a good step forward for us although we haven’t got the most out of the package yet. The team has done a great job with the developments and I hope that everyone at the factory in Brackley and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth enjoyed the pole today. It’s really important to start from the front here as overtaking can be difficult but we do have Felipe behind us with KERS so a good start will be crucial tomorrow.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“We have had a really good weekend so far here in Spain and I’m happy to be starting from third position on the grid tomorrow. Of course it is a little disappointing not to be on pole after a great Q2 however my final lap in Q3 was good. We may have gone out slightly too early for the final run and missed an opportunity there. However I’m happy with our strategy and we are well placed for the race. We will need to get off the line cleanly and stay ahead of the Ferrari down to the first corner to make the most of our potential.”

ROSS BRAWN
“Congratulations to Jenson for his third pole position of the season and another great job from Rubens to secure third place. After some hard work from the team overnight, we were able to resolve the issues which Jenson encountered with our upgrade package yesterday and were greatly helped in that process by the input from Rubens. The developments on the car have enabled us to make good progress over the weekend and whilst we are still to fully maximise their impact on performance, the signs are encouraging. Rubens was very quick in the first two sessions on low fuel today with Jenson having the edge on the heavier fuel loads in Q3. Today’s result puts us in a good position and we look forward to a very exciting race.”

Button and Barrichello after Spanish Qualifying

After the first four flyaway races, Formula One returned to Europe this week with Brawn GP commencing the team’s on-track preparations for the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona today.

The Brawn-Mercedes cars have a number of aerodynamic upgrades for this weekend’s race and today’s practice sessions were the first opportunity for drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello to evaluate the new developments on track.

On a warm spring day, Jenson and Rubens completed 45 laps in the first practice session with Jenson topping the timesheets at the end of the ninety minutes. This afternoon, the pair concentrated on longer runs completing 74 laps with Rubens ending the day in fourth position and Jenson in sixth place.

RESULTS

Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Free Practice 1 Free Practice 2
Jenson Button 22 BGP 001-02 21 laps 01:21.799 P1 35 laps 01:22.052 P6
Rubens Barrichello 23 BGP 001-01 24 laps 01:22.859 P10 39 laps 01:21.843 P4

Weather Warm and sunny
Temperatures Air: 16-25°C Track: 22-43°C

JENSON BUTTON
“The balance of my car hasn’t been quite right today with our new aero upgrade fitted. We have been struggling for grip which was a little frustrating but we believe that we have identified the reasons. The good thing is that Rubens has collected some good data today so we can look at that overnight and have a more positive day tomorrow.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“We have had a good first day and focused our attentions on evaluating the new aero package that we have for this race. I ran the current package this morning for baseline data before fitting the new developments. My initial feedback is positive and the car felt good and well-balanced. We ran a fairly conservative programme which has given us valuable data to study overnight.”

ROSS BRAWN
“It is always good to return to Europe after a hectic start to the season and particularly following the success of our first four races. Throughout that period we have been working hard on our first upgrade package of the season for the BGP 001 and it is very satisfying to see those developments on track today. It has been a mixed day for us with Rubens very happy with the performance however we have experienced some issues with the performance of the package on Jenson’s car. We are investigating the cause at the moment and have plenty of data to study overnight to resolve it.”

Brawn GP are hoping the time taken to regroup back at their base in Brackley and the introduction of an update package will help their chances of another victory at Circuit de Catalunya this weekend.

Their official statement follows in full.

The Spanish Grand Prix, Round Five of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship, marks the start of Formula One’s European season and the first of nine races to be held on the continent between the months of May and September.

Located just outside the vibrant city of Barcelona, the Circuit de Catalunya has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix since 1991 and has a demanding and varied layout which makes it a renowned testing venue and well known to the teams and drivers.

The 4.655km 2.892 mile circuit has undergone a series of modifications during its 18-year history which has led to the loss of some of the track’s high-speed edge but the combination of high and low speed corners still provides a technical and physical challenge for the cars and drivers.

Brawn GP completed a four-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya prior to the start of season with the new Brawn-Mercedes car.

ROSS BRAWN, TEAM PRINCIPAL

Q. After such a successful start, the team must be looking forward to continuing the challenge in Europe

“The team had to make a tremendous effort simply to have two cars on the grid for the first race in Melbourne and the success that we have achieved has been a well-deserved reward for all our staff for their hard work which has been supported by the commitment of our engine partner Mercedes-Benz. The short break which we have enjoyed since returning from Bahrain has enabled the whole team to regroup at our factory in Brackley and spend a little time reflecting upon our first four races.

“Jenson, Rubens and the team delivered a first class job to win the Bahrain Grand Prix which is the level of performance that we must sustain if we are to seriously challenge for the championships this year. The field has compressed considerably since the season-opening race in Australia and the performance margins at the front are now very tight indeed. Whilst we have been away racing over the past few weeks, the factory has been working extremely hard on our upgrade package for the BGP 001 and we look forward to seeing the results of our development work on track in Barcelona this weekend.”

JENSON BUTTON

Q. What are your thoughts ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix

“Although the team only completed four days of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in March this year, I know the track inside out and it feels very familiar to be heading back there for the start of the European season this weekend. You need to have a car with good downforce for a really quick lap there and we are fortunate that our car behaves so predictably which enables you to feel completely confident when committing to high speed corners. This can be a very difficult circuit for overtaking so you have to make the most of the run down to the first corner to capitalise on any opportunities at the start of the race. I visited the factory last week to join the team for a small celebration of our successes to date and catch up on the progress with our latest developments. We know that we have a real fight on our hands from here to maintain our lead in the championships but I am confident that we are well prepared for the challenges ahead.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO

Q. What are the key challenges of the Circuit de Catalunya

“The Circuit de Catalunya feels like a home circuit for the drivers with so much of our pre-season testing taking place here over the winter. Although the track has lost some of the high speed challenge that it once had, it is still an interesting and physical lap to drive. You need to find a good rhythm to make the most of the combination of the high speed corners, particularly at turn three which is very fast and demanding, and the slow corners in the final sector of the lap. The long pit straight requires good aerodynamic efficiency and we will be thankful for the power of our Mercedes-Benz engine there. The Spanish Grand Prix is always one of my favourite races on the calendar as it feels like this is where the season really begins.”

Circuit de Catalunya Stats

Circuit Length: 4.655km
Race Distance: 307.104km
Number of Laps: 66

Full Throttle: 64 Brake Wear: Medium
Tyre Compounds: Soft / Hard Downforce Level: High 8/10
Tyre Usage: Hard Average Speed: 207kph 128mph

The FIA publish the race starting weights for all car’s on the grid.  For the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix the weights are.

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 644kg
2. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 637
3. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 646.5
4. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 661
5. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 659
6. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 664.5
7. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 650.5
8. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 673.5
9. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 679
10. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 673
11. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 679
12. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 697
13. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 690
14. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 682.7
15. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 690
16. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 697.9
17. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 659
18. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 648
19. Timo Glock, Toyota, 652
20. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 679.5

The first three car’s are significantly lighter than the rest of the field.  The FIA minimum car weight is 605kg including the driver.  Fernando Alonso is therefore only carrying 32 kg of fuel.  Williams F1 state that a lap of the Shanghai circuit will use 2.55kg of fuel.  Therefore Alonso has approximately 12 laps of fuel on board (a little less by the time the car gets to the grid and takes the parade lap.

It looks like it will be an exciting race with regular changes at the front.  If the Brawn’s can get a good start and not be held up and therefore stay fairly close to the Red Bull’s they have the potential to take the lead after the first round of pit stops.  The Ferrari’s and Hamilton’s McLaren both have significant amount of fuel on board so they could have more speed than they showed in qualifying.

In the UK the race starts tomorrow at 8am (BBC coverage starts at 7am)

The Malaysian Grand Prix has been held at Sepang International Circuit since 1999.  The 2009 race is held on April 5th 2009.

Sepang International Circuit

Lap Distance 5.543 km (3.376 mi)
Scheduled Distance 56 laps, 310.408 km (189.056 mi)

Previous Winners

2009 Session Times

Friday

Malaysian GP free practice session one times

1. ROSBERG Williams 1m36.260s
2. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m36.305s
3. BUTTON Brawn 1m36.430s
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m36.487s
5. MASSA Ferrari 1m36.561s
6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m36.646s
7. HAMILTON McLaren 1m36.699s
8. WEBBER Red Bull 1m36.703s
9. VETTEL Red Bull 1m36.747s
10. GLOCK Toyota 1m36.980s
11. TRULLI Toyota 1m36.982s
12. FISICHELLA Force India 1m37.025s
13. KUBICA BMW 1m37.039s
14. PIQUET Renault 1m37.199s
15. SUTIL Force India 1m37.241s
16. ALONSO Renault 1m37.395s
17. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m37.634s
18. HEIDFELD BMW 1m37.640s
19. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m38.022s
20. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m38.483s

Malaysian GP free practice session two times

1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m35.707s
2. MASSA Ferrari 1m35.832s
3. VETTEL Red Bull 1m35.954s
4. ROSBERG Williams 1m36.015s
5. WEBBER Red Bull 1m36.026s
6. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m36.161s
7. BUTTON Brawn 1m36.254s
8. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m36.290s
9. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m36.397s
10. PIQUET Renault 1m36.401s
11. HAMILTON McLaren 1m36.515s
12. TRULLI Toyota 1m36.516s
13. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m36.628s
14. GLOCK Toyota 1m36.639s
15. ALONSO Renault 1m36.640s
16. SUTIL Force India 1m36.875s
17. KUBICA BMW 1m37.267s
18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m37.278s
19. FISICHELLA Force India 1m37.432s
20. HEIDFELD BMW 1m37.930s

Saturday

* Sebastian Vettel will receive a 10 place penalty for the crash at the end of the 2009 Australian Grand Prix.  Rubens Barrichello will receive a 5 place penalty for replacing a gearbox during the race weekend.

Jenson Buttons Qualifying Lap

Sunday

Pre Race Start Weights

1. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 660kg
2. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 656.5
3. Timo Glock, Toyota, 656.5
4. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 656
5. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 656
6. Robert Kubica, BMW-Sauber, 663
7. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 662.5
8. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn, 664.5
9. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 680.5
10. Nick Heidfeld, BMW-Sauber, 692
11. Kazuki Nakajima,Williams, 683.4
12. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 688
13. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 647
14. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 688.9
15. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 670.5
16. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 689.5
17. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 681.9
18. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 680.5
19. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 655.5
20. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 686.5

Preliminary Race Classification

Fastest Lap – Jenson Button 1.36.641 on lap 18

Highlights

Brawn GP News 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix Posts

2009 Malaysian Grand Prix TV Coverage

Malaysian Grand Prix Brawn GP preview

2009 Malaysian Grand Prix Friday Practice

Friday Press Conferences – The Constructors

2009 Malaysian GP Qualifying

Bet on the Malaysian GP at Sporting Bet

FIA post-qualifying press conference – Malaysia

2009 Malaysian Grand Prix – Qualifying, Brawn Official Statement

Malaysian Grand Prix – Pre Race start weights

2009 Malaysian Grand Prix – The Race

Jenson Button Wins in Malaysia after a rainy race

Malaysian Grand Prix – Official Brawn GP Race Report

Malaysian Grand Prix – Post race Press Conference