Brawn

Team logo

**Brawn GP** was a Formula One team that competed from 2007 to 2009. The team, founded by former Ferrari and Benetton technical director Ross Brawn, was based in Australia but operated from the former Honda factory in Banbury, United Kingdom. After participating in the championship for 2 years and 6 months, the team withdrew from F1 after 12 races in the 2008 season due to financial difficulties. Throughout the team's time in the sport, it scored 84 points, including one win at the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix, which was scored by Mark Webber.

## History

### Formation (2004-2007)

After leaving Scuderia Ferrari in October 2004, Ross Brawn confirmed that he would be taking the bold step of founding his own team in the Formula Three Euro Series for the 2005 season. He confirmed the team would be based out of Australia after the wealthy Australian businessman Pat Trappett bought a 50% stake in the team. The team’s lineup for its debut season was former IndyCar driver Scott Dixon (pictured left in 2003) and 2004 Toyota test driver Ryan Briscoe.

The team made its feeder series debut on 3 April 2005 at Milan in Italy, with Scott Dixon claiming a brilliant 2nd place finish on debut, but Ryan Briscoe finished a disappointing P17. This theme would continue throughout the rest of 2005, as Dixon finished the season in second place with a respectable 127 points (including taking the team’s debut victory at the final round in Beijing) while Briscoe could only manage 12 points, with a singular 4th place finish at Monaco. Despite this, Dixon’s efforts alone were enough to guarantee Brawn a place in the 2006 GP2 Series season having finished 3rd in the constructors.

2006 proved successful once again, as a partnership with Australian car marque Holden and a new all-Italian driver lineup of Ferrari junior Vitantonio Liuzzi (pictured during the 2004 F3000 season) and Davide Valsecchi brought the team more success. Liuzzi had a brilliant season, only losing out to eventual title winner on countback as both had scored 132 points. However, the much younger Valsecchi was only able to score a meagre 28 points, but this was not enough to stop Brawn from gaining a second successive promotion, this time to F1, the premier tier of single-seater motorsport. Holden left Brawn after 2006 due to a restructuring of their motorsport programme.

### 2007

After being confirmed on 30 July 2006 as one of F1’s two new teams for 2007, after the withdrawal of Project One, the team announced that Liuzzi would be staying at the team after an impressive 2006 campaign. German manufacturer team BMW agreed to supply the new team with engines, with Brawn’s approach focused more on engine power than aerodynamic or chassis development. This engine deal attracted attention from multiple top drivers, however it was New Zealander Scott Dixon - previously the team’s driver in Formula Three - who signed a one-year deal with the team on 29 August 2006 after being dropped by Volvo**.**

Despite the technical nous of Ross Brawn, the 2007 Brawn (named the BGP001)’s development was plagued by funding issues and errors in design, and the new car ended up being the slowest on the grid bar fellow new team Spyker. The team only managed to score one point throughout the season courtesy of Dixon at Portugal, however this was enough to secure the team 9th place in the WCC in their debut season**.**

### 2008

Brawn made the decision to start development on their 2008 car (left) early, which seemed to pay off for the team as their car showed much stronger pace from the outset. On 17 September 2007, it was announced that Liuzzi would be dropped from the team for 2008. At the launch of the car, the team unveiled a two-year title sponsorship deal with the United Colours of Benetton, meaning the team would be known as Benetton Brawn-BMW. Australian 6-time race winner Mark Webber joined the team for their second season in F1, claiming 8th place on his debut with the team after a completely pointless campaign the previous year. Further points came for the team at Portugal, Britain and Germany**.**

Heading into round 8 of the championship in Belgium, the team stood 7th in the Constructors’ with 7 points, behind newly-rebranded rivals Manor and ahead of McLaren. However, at the Belgian Grand Prix on 22 June 2008, a surprise came when the Brawn team used a safety car to their advantage to score their first and only win from Mark Webber, after withstanding intense pressure from Rubens Barrichello in the final laps. The team finished the season well with 27 more points (26 of which coming from Dixon’s late-season form), to end in a strong 7th place with 60 points, just 10 behind Audi.

### 2009

For the next season, the team brought on reigning GP2 champion AJ Allmendinger, with Mark Webber departing to Manor after just one year at Brawn. The team’s 2009 car (seen left with a striking black and green livery) was built to the new regulations, and was a step down from the previous season’s as Brawn switched focus to the BGP003 comparatively late to the other teams. The recession also hit the team's finances hard; to even be able to finish the development of the 2009 car, the team had to take many loans, which led to it incurring £30 million in debt by March 2009. These financial problems coincided with a downturn in performance. Despite a fair start for the team, scoring 23 points by the German Grand Prix (including a highlight P4 for Allmendinger at Britain), these proved to be the team’s last as they went without a single point from Germany until their final race at Russia**.**

### September 2009 collapse

It was announced on 6 August 2009 that Barrichello (seen left on the day of the announcement) would be signing a two-year deal with the team, with the Brazilian unaware of the team’s current financial problems. Before the weekend of the Russian Grand Prix, the team announced on 25 August 2009 that it would be considering either not competing in the final three rounds of the season to save money, or selling the team off, as it faced bankruptcy. It seemed clear that this would have a major impact on the performance of the 2010 car, leading Barrichello to sue the team for breach of contract during the Russian Grand Prix weekend on 28 August 2009 as the Brazilian was unaware of these problems - a court hearing was scheduled for 8 September 2009**.**

Despite the Brawn team turning up to the Black Sea Circuit to compete, the FIA also announced on 28 August 2009 that they were considering complete exclusion for Brawn from the Constructors’ Standings, which would result in zero prize money being given to the team. The team competed in the Russian Grand Prix regardless, with a vote due for the exclusion of Brawn on 2 September 2009**.**

The vote passed 9-2, and the Brawn GP team were now left in the middle of a worldwide recession with the prospect of no prize money, having to pay hefty legal fees and damages to Barrichello and a 2010 car severely affected by lack of funds. Ross Brawn left the team on 3 September 2009, and with outright owner Trappett withdrawing all funding the following day, the team officially filed for bankruptcy on 5 September 2009, on the weekend before the Bahrain Grand Prix**.**

The team scored one win courtesy of Mark Webber at the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix, with a total of 84 points across 42 races. Their withdrawal allowed Threat Racing Skoda to enter F1 for the 2010 season**.**

## Complete Formula One Results

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1g7pFyk-BUMkCuA\_7nqRi0lEEeLdrprlLK7yKB9tPWGY/edit?usp=sharing