Collectors & Aficionados
Checkmate of Kings: Ross Brawn and the Strange Case of Brawn GP
Brawn GP's 2009 F1 fairytale: bought for £1, raced one season, won both titles, and became the foundation of Mercedes' F1 return.
Last week our own Cliff Goodall, commenting on the auction organised in Miami on the occasion of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, spoke about the Brawn GP, the single-seater that lived only one season by winning the 2009 Formula 1 World Championship. The car, chassis number 1 of 3, remained unsold and, indeed, its value remains a question mark when considering its history.
We had announced that we would return to this truly unique and not too transparent episode: in 2008 Honda, at the end of a season with modest results on the track and in the difficult moment for the world economy after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and the subprime mortgage scandal, decided to leave Formula 1. The team was not competitive and, fully in keeping with Japanese culture, once the decision had been made there was no time to lose: the solution had to be found within a month. Continuity of work for the employees was more important to their image than profit. They had no hesitation in accepting the offer from Ross Brawn, already the technical and strategic heart of Ferrari Formula 1 with Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher, to take over the entire team for... just one pound!
