The Abandoned Team That Won F1

In December 2008, Honda quit Formula 1 and left its brand-new car without a team. Three months later, Ross Brawn bought the whole operation for £1. With a last-minute Mercedes engine, no title sponsor and around 270 jobs gone, Brawn GP won its very first race in Melbourne. Then Jenson Button won six of the first seven races. The secret was the double diffuser, a loophole that Ferrari, Red Bull, Renault and BMW protested and lost. Ten months after being abandoned, Brawn GP won both the drivers' and constructors' championships of 2009. Then it vanished: Mercedes bought the team, and it became the dynasty that won eight constructors' titles in a row. Was Brawn GP the greatest underdog story in F1, or did it just get lucky with the rules? 👇 00:00 Intro 00:20 Honda's expensive failure 01:12 Honda walks away 01:46 Sold for £1 02:17 No engine, no money 03:07 Testing shock 03:32 Melbourne fairytale 04:01 The double diffuser 04:30 The protest 05:02 Six wins from seven 05:30 The slump 05:57 Brazil: champions 06:31 The end of Brawn GP 07:00 The legacy 07:31 Outro Sources: Honda press releases (5 Dec 2008, 6 Mar 2009), FIA International Court of Appeal (Apr 2009), formula1.com, Autosport, ESPN, RaceFans, Motor Sport Magazine, official 2009 results. Footage: short excerpts of Formula 1 highlights (2006-2021), AP Archive, Autosport and Honda promo footage. Voice: synthetic narration. Music: "Hustle" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) "Inspired" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b... #f1 #brawngp #jensonbutton