The ex-Brawn GP team experienced more highs and lows than was thought possible in one season in 2009. From being on the brink of disappearing in the early months of the year, the team took both drivers' and constructors' crowns before announcing it had been bought out by Mercedes in November.
With it's new paymasters the team is now financially secure but that certainly wasn't the case in December 2008, when previous owner Honda announced they were withdrawing from Formula One. Take over rumours raged throughout the winter with numerous buyers suggested, for the sum of £1.
On March 6, 2009, former Honda technical director Ross Brawn announced that he had bought the team. Rebranded as Brawn Grand Prix they would contest the 2009 season with the experienced driver partnership of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The Brawn car would be powered by a Mercedes customer engine.
The team had very limited testing before the first race in Australia at the end of March, and although the times were fast, most people did not expect great results.
Proving that no-one should underestimate Ross Brawn, Button won the Australian Grand Prix in convincing style with Barrichello a close second. They continued to silence their critics winning six races out of the first ten and topping the constructors' championship table.
Although their rivals caught them up towards the tail end of the season Brawn recorded eight wins, four seconds, and three thirds while only retiring on two occasions. This was enough for the team to achieve the seemingly impossible and win the constructors' championship in their first year of competition. They scored 18.5 points more than nearest rival Red Bull. They also powered Jenson Button to the drivers' championship after ten years in F1.
Now, with the involvement of Mercedes, the team's history has been enriched even further. Mercedes brought a new level of professionalism to the sport in the 1950s with the legendary silver-arrows cars. It won two titles in 1954 and 1955 with Juan Manuel Fangio, before pulling out of motorsport entirely after the team's 1955 Le Mans entry had a massive accident, killing 84 spectators. The marque returned to F1 in 1994 powering Sauber cars with engines built by Ilmor, before reaching all new levels of success partnering McLaren. Alongside Mercedes GP, McLaren and Force India will also run the company's engines in 2010.
