Brawn GP News

It has been reported today by German magazine Auto Motor Und Sport that Mercedes will by a 75% stake of Brawn GP.  This would go a long way to securing long term funding and a strategic engine partnership for the team.  Many have questioned in the past why Mercedes hasn’t got it’s name on the Brawn GP car, this was because Brawn GP were only a customer, not a partner, but this looks set to change.

This would mean that Mercedes have a major investment in two F1 teams, they already own 40% of McLaren, and while the deal with Brawn is not expected to change anything it comes at a difficult time for them as one of their lead sponsors Santander prepares to move to Ferrari.

Is this how the Brawn GP 001 could look?

At the Monaco Grand Prix Brawn CEO Nick Fry spoke about the planned 2010 car development and budget.  Earlier in the season Brawn GP had many medium term sponsors such as Virgin who agreed a race by race deal and Brawn GP were seeking long term sponsors to provide stability.

Although for 2010 they do not have a title sponsor or major brand involvement Nick Fry has confirmed that they have the budget to start developing next season’s car now.

Nick Fry said

There is no issue whatsoever with funding through this year, … Even if we didn’t get another penny in sponsorship we’d be able to do what we need to do. … We are using our money wisely and that means spending it on the performance of the car and the whole team, including Ross and I, going EasyJet – that’s how it should be, that’s what you do in constrained economic environments…. But as far as development of the car goes we are in good shape.

Speaking of the hunt for new sponsors he said

The beauty in our situation is that we don’t need to take the first deal that comes along; indeed we haven’t taken the first deal that comes along because we don’t need to, We want to do what’s right for three years and even five years out, and that’s what we are trying to do at the moment. If we can do that it will be wonderful for us because then we can get on with the racing and be working with partners that will be developing their brands alongside and we maybe relax at least on one front.

Stage two of the Virgin deal is still yet to happen which has resulted in many rumors of other brands interested in sponsoring Brawn GP.  Nick Fry has said they are “close to several commerical agreements” but has not exagarated on this.

One noticable sponsor missing from the team is Mercedes the Brawn GP engine supplier.  It is understood that Brawn GP are just a customer of Mercedes and there is currently no sponsorship / promotion, so Mercedes isn’t able to advertise based on the fact they power Brawn GP.  Surely they must want this to change and to get the Mercedes silver star on the front of the Brawn GP cars!

Below are the results for the 2009 Formula One Constructors Championship

(Click image to increase size)

* Only half points were awarded at the Malaysian Grand Prix as the race did not reach 75% distance due to torrential rain.

This is the Brawn GP official press release following the qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix where Jenson Button has qualified on pole.

Jenson Button took his second successive pole position today in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit maintaining his and the Brawn GP team’s perfect start to the 2009 Formula One season.

Team-mate Rubens Barrichello qualified in fourth having battled with understeer with his car throughout qualifying. Rubens will incur a five-place grid penalty ahead of tomorrow’s 56-lap race after a gearbox change.

The Brawn-Mercedes drivers topped the times in all three qualifying sessions with Rubens going quickest at the end of Q1 on the soft option tyre and Jenson posting the fastest lap of Q2 on his first set of options having used the harder prime tyre for his previous runs. Both drivers completed two runs in Q3 with Jenson coming out on top to secure his second pole of the season.

JENSON BUTTON
“Achieving pole position today in Malaysia is possibly even more special than last week in Australia. It’s not easy to get one pole but two successive poles is just fantastic and it’s a first for me in my Formula One career. It’s a great feeling and proves that our car works well on different types of circuit. We were really struggling with the balance yesterday and I had a lot of rear locking however we made some changes to the car overnight which really improved it for today and it felt really good throughout qualifying. It’s a big turnaround and I have to say thank you to the team for their hard work in such tough conditions. They did a fantastic job. We are hoping that the rain stays away tomorrow but you just never know at this circuit and we will be working hard tonight to make sure we are prepared for all eventualities.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO
“It was a good qualifying session for the team today and well done to Jenson once again as he had the pace to put the car on pole. Unfortunately on my side of the garage, the car developed understeer in qualifying and we were not able to resolve the problem. However we know the performance of the car in race conditions is strong and I will be aiming to score as many points as possible tomorrow before I can start chasing for my own pole position and wins.”

ROSS BRAWN
“It was a great qualifying performance from Jenson and the team today particularly as we had some issues with the balance of the car in yesterday’s practice sessions. At the start of qualifying, there was a distinct possibility of rain so we went out early in Q1 to bank some dry running and from there it was a busy session with the track evolving incredibly quickly. Rubens was struggling for grip under braking which resulted in understeer and he was never completely happy with the balance of his car. With the replacement of his gearbox, this puts him further back on the grid than we would have hoped, however his experience will stand him in good stead in the race. Jenson was much happier with the balance which reflects in his second pole of the season after an excellent lap. It was an incredibly close session and with the prospect of rain in the race tomorrow, we should be in for a very eventful and exciting Malaysian Grand Prix.”

The Brawn BGP 001 was first shown and tested in Silverstone on 6th March 2009.  The car had very little time to test, just completing tests at the Circuit de Catalunya on 9th-12th March and Circuit de Jerez on 15th – 18th March.

Despite Honda withdrawing from Formula One they had already begun development early into the season on the 2009 car, choosing to focus their energies on the 2009 season where the would benefit from a major regulation change to the design of the car, causing all teams to radically redesign.  This development continued and the car became the Brawn BGP 001. Despite little testing Brawn GP topped the time sheets in both locations.

However the rear diffuser on the Brawn BGP 001 is currently the subject of a FIA appeal as other teams complain that Brawn, Williams and Toyota have all designed illegal diffusers giving them an unfair advantage.  Stewards at the Australian Grand Prix cleared the cars to race but the FIA will make a final ruling on 14th April 2009

Technical Specification
Chassis

Transmission

Dimensions

Mercedes-Benz FO108W Engine

Brawn GP was formed on 6th March after Ross Brawn the previous team manager of Honda Racing F1 Team bought the team from Honda.  Brawn GP was accepted onto the grid on March 17th when the FIA officially accepted the change of name.  Brawn GP are recognised as a new team – hence their cars are numbered 22 and 23 (the last numbers) however the FIA waived the team entry fee.

Despite Honda leaving Formula One the car BGP 001 had been developed throughout 2008 as back then Honda decided to focus on the 2009 car and all the design rule changes over developing the 2008 car.  This gave Brawn GP a championship winning car after agreeing a deal with Mercedes to supply engines, though not without some contention as their rear diffuser is currently under appeal by other teams.