Brawn GP

Brawn GP was a Formula One constructor which competed in the 2009 Formula One World Championship, with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team was formed in 2009 by a management buyout led by Ross Brawn of the Honda Racing F1 Team, after Honda announced their withdrawal from the sport in December 2008 due to the 2008 financial crisis, while other teams like Toyota and BMW Sauber raced in F1 until the end of the 2009 season, also choosing to depart from the sport. The team is famous for its symbolic £1 sale from Hiroshi Oshima to Ross Brawn. The team started development of their car in early 2008, when still owned by Honda. The car was originally named the RA109 until the team rebranded to Brawn GP, to which the car was redesigned to fit the Mercedes engine and was subsequently renamed the BGP-001. For the 2009 season, Honda provided a $100 million budget, while Mercedes provided engines under a customer relationship. This evolved into a buyout of the team in November 2009 by Mercedes.

Pre-season testing quickly revealed that the car was highly competitive. One of its key innovations was a controversial aerodynamic feature known as the double diffuser, which provided a significant downforce advantage over many rival teams early in the season, and was protested by Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, and Renault F1 Team. The design was then declared legal in April 2009 by the governing body of the sport, the FIA. On its racing debut, the season-opening 2009 Australian Grand Prix, the team took pole position and second place in qualifying and went on to finish first and second in the race. Button won six of the first seven races of the season. At the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix on the 18th of October, he finished 5th after starting 14th to secure the 2009 Drivers' Championship, while the team won the Constructors' Championship. Barrichello won twice and finished third in the Drivers' Championship. The team won eight of the season's seventeen races and took both titles in its only year of competition. As a result of this being their only year in Formula One, Brawn GP is the only Constructor with a 100% title rate. The team obtained fifteen podiums, five pole positions and four fastest laps in 2009. With a total of 172 points, its average is 10.12 points per Grand Prix. In 2010, Brawn GP received the Laureus World Sports Awards for Team of the Year.