Brawn BGP 001
mid-mounted. | |||||||||||
Transmission | Brawn GP, 7 forward gears + 1 reverse, semi-automatic. | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Power | 750 hp @ 18,000 RPM | ||||||||||
Fuel | Mobil | ||||||||||
Tyres | Bridgestone | ||||||||||
Competition history | |||||||||||
Notable entrants | Brawn GP F1 Team | ||||||||||
Notable drivers | 22. Jenson Button 23. Rubens Barrichello | ||||||||||
Debut | 2009 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
First win | 2009 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
Last win | 2009 Italian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
Last event | 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Constructors' Championships | 1 (2009) | ||||||||||
Drivers' Championships | 1 (Jenson Button, 2009) |
The Brawn BGP 001 (originally known as the Honda RA109) is a
This is the first Brackley-based F1 car to utilize Mercedes-Benz engines, which is used by its successor factory team. On BGP 001's debut at the 2009 Australian Grand Prix, Jenson Button took pole position in qualifying and finished first in the race while his teammate Rubens Barrichello took second place in both qualifying and race.
Had Honda continued to participate in 2009, it would have raced the Honda RA109K .
Chassis
Yet the car had one difference, which was focused on the rear so-called 'double-decker diffuser'. The diffuser is at the rear of the car and is a route to get downforce by using the airflow under the car's floor. The BGP 001 had a different central channel to its diffuser with the shape of the structure being used to create advanced type of double-decker design. The diffuser's controversial aspect was the hole in the rear which increases the speed of airflow as it heads towards the higher rear venturi section, where it expands and creates more downforce. Other teams argued that the presence of the hole was against the regulations.[7]
At the first race of the season in Australia an official complaint was launched by Renault, Red Bull and Ferrari against the diffusers of the Williams FW31, Toyota TF109 and the BGP 001 saying that they were illegal.[8] However the race stewards did not share that view and rejected the other teams' complaints. Subsequently, the car was cleared to race in Melbourne.[9] The same problem was faced in Malaysia after BMW tried again but failed.[10]
Over the controversy the 'non-diffuser' teams,
With the diffuser change, the new rules in place for the 2009 season required cars to have narrower and higher rear wings and wider and lower front wings, designed to reduce air disturbance for following cars and hence make overtaking easier.
Engine and transmission
The BGP 001 used a Mercedes-Benz FO 108W engine, supplied through a customer deal. Per the 2009 regulations, the engine was a naturally aspirated V8 and was rev-limited to 18,000 rpm. Originally the car was engineered for a Honda-designed engine, however, when Honda announced their withdrawal from the sport, a customer deal with Mercedes was obtained. It was reported that deals with Ferrari and Mercedes were available, the latter being chosen as it was simpler to integrate into the existing car.[15] However, an unnamed senior Brawn GP engineer, after the title-winning race in Brazil, was reported saying that significant and unconventional changes were made to accommodate the FO108W engine.[5] Simon Cole, Brawn's chief trackside engineer, alluded that the team had decided against using Ferrari engines for fear that Ferrari would control the car's engine performance and not let a customer team beat them.[16]
According to team CEO Nick Fry, the Mercedes engine was critical in the team's success, saying that it accounted for 50 percent of the team's upturn in performance and that they would not have won the championship with the Honda engines.[17]
Unlike Mercedes's other customer
Per the 2009 Formula One regulations, Brawn GP was limited to using eight engines per car throughout the season. The limited availability of engines led to a record being broken by the Brawn team; it was the first time one particular build of an engine had won three Grands Prix in succession.[19]
Production numbers
Given the limited budget and development time, only three chassis were ever made (larger teams, such as McLaren build as many as eight): one for each driver and a spare. Due to the physical demands from reusing the same chassis to this extent, the condition of the chassis had deteriorated so much that the cars began to lose pace as the season progressed.[16] The spare was used by Rubens Barrichello in Singapore, while Jenson Button used the second Brawn chassis BGP 001–02 in every practice, qualifying session and race between the 2009 Australian Grand Prix and the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix. This meant that he won the championship in the oldest car on the grid. Chassis BGP 001-02 is owned by Ross Brawn and was demonstrated at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Chassis 02 was painted silver after 2009 for the 2010 launch of Mercedes GP and used as a demonstration car for two years before being returned to its previous Brawn livery.[20]
2009
Testing
On the day of the BGP 001's debut, at
With the testing moving to
The car's first race was at the Australian Grand Prix on March 29.[26]
2009 season
The car was used by Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello for all 17 races of the 2009 season. It won the season opening Australian Grand Prix in the hands of Button, with Barrichello finishing second[27] giving the BGP 001 a 1-2 finish on its debut, which had not happened since 1954.[28]
The car achieved podium finishes in all of the first 8 races of the season with Button winning 6 times, at the Australian, Malaysian, Bahrain, Spanish, Monaco and Turkish Grands Prix. In the latter half of the season, it only achieved two more wins (Valencia and Monza), both in Barrichello's hands.
The legality of the car's diffuser was disputed by other teams, but ultimately cleared by the FIA. At the first race of the season in Australia, an official complaint was launched by Renault, Red Bull and Ferrari against the diffusers of the Williams FW31, Toyota TF109 and the BGP 001 saying that they were illegal.[8] However the race stewards did not share that view and rejected the other teams' complaints. Subsequently, the car was cleared to race in Melbourne.[9] There was an appeal launched on the 'diffuser cars' but was rejected by the FIA on Wednesday 14 April 2009 leaving the diffuser on the BGP 001 clear to race.[3]
A characteristic of the car was that in colder weather, such as at the British Grand Prix and German Grand Prix the BGP 001 struggled as it couldn't heat its tyres. The reason the car struggled with tyre temperature is because it managed its tyres better in hotter climates but in colder climates this meant the car wasn't hard enough on the tyres to get the heat into them.[29][30]
At the Spanish Grand Prix, the car received its first performance upgrade,[31] but the car's development over the course of the season failed to keep pace with that of its rivals, and in later races was unable to challenge McLaren and Red Bull Racing.
The win in Monaco marked the first time in Formula One history that the same engine had won three Grands Prix in succession.[19]
The car suffered its first and only mechanical retirement at the Turkish Grand Prix when Barrichello lost seventh gear.[32] The only other retirement was in the Belgian Grand Prix, when Button was involved in a collision.
Another notable incident occurred at the Hungarian GP, a suspension spring came off Barrichello's car during the third qualifying period and struck Felipe Massa's helmet that left the Ferrari driver briefly unconscious as he crashed head-on into a tyre barrier, sustaining a serious head injury.
Livery
When it was first run, the only logos covering the plain white body of the BGP 001 were those of Bridgestone and Brawn GP themselves. Gradually, as the team began earning sponsors, the car began filling up with logos – beginning with that of Henri Lloyd,[33] and shortly followed by Virgin Group following their major sponsorship of the team.[34] MIG Bank became a major sponsor and was advertised on the front of the BGP 001 for Chinese Grand Prix eventually covering the front of the car by themselves.[35]
At the 2009 Spanish Grand Prix, the car sported imagery and the logo of the film Terminator Salvation on its rear wing for the entirety of the race weekend.[36] Before the British Grand Prix the team signed Graham-London. Their logo was shown on the cars' wing mirrors.[37] For the Singapore Grand Prix, Brawn GP secured a sponsorship deal with Canon.[38] For the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Brawn GP closed a deal with Petrópolis brewery to stamp their colours and beer brand Itaipava on both cars.[39]
Complete Formula One results
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | Grands Prix | Points | WCC | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AUS | MAL‡ | CHN | BHR | ESP | MON | TUR | GBR | GER | HUN | EUR | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | BRA | ABU | |||||||
2009 | Brawn GP F1 Team | Mercedes FO108W V8
|
B | Jenson Button | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 7 | Ret | 2 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 172 | 1st |
Rubens Barrichello | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | Ret | 3 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 4 | ||||||
Sources:[40][41] |
‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance completed.
Other
On 18 June 2018, it was announced by Codemasters that this car would appear as a classic car in F1 2018.
References
- ^ Tremayne, David (24 October 2009). "Brawn and brains! In-depth review of the title race and a look ahead to 2010". Independent. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ "BGP 001 Technical Specification" (PDF). Brawn GP. 2009-03-24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
- ^ a b "Court rules Button's car is legal". BBC Sport. 2009-04-15. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
- ^ "F1 season report: Brawn GP". Racecar Engineering. Chelsea Magazines. 2009-11-12. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
- ^ a b c Benson, Andrew (2009-10-19). "The remarkable story of Brawn GP". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
- ^ "Brawn GP BGP001 – rear diffuser design". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 2009-04-09. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
- ^ a b "Protests lodged against three teams". ITV-F1.com. 2009-03-26. Archived from the original on 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ a b "Date set for F1 diffuser appeal". BBC Sport. BBC. 2009-03-28. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ "BMW Sauber lodge diffuser appeal in Malaysia". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 2009-04-04. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
- ^ "Court of Appeal declares disputed diffusers legal". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 2009-04-15. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
- ^ Beer, Matt (2008-11-12). "Williams reveal 2009 wing package". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ "Whiting talks about the new F1 rules". Grandprix.com. Inside F1. 2009-01-27. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ a b "A beginner's guide to the 2009 rule changes". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ Scarborough, Craig (2009-03-13). "Technical analysis: Brawn GP BGP 001". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
- ^ a b Edmonson, Lawrence (2020-03-20). "The untold stories of Brawn GP: How close the fairy tale came to never happening". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
- ^ Burnett, Rob (2019-09-19). "Exclusive Nick Fry Q&A: The ex-Brawn GP boss on the amazing 2009 F1 season". DriveTribe. Archived from the original on 2022-01-18. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
- ^ Collins, Sam (2009-04-05). "Brawn GP: the future of the team". Racecar Engineering. Chelsea Magazines. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ a b Noble, Jonathan (2009-05-25). "Brawn hoping for big guns' fightback". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ Collins, Sam (2009-10-18). "Brawn BGP-001: record breaker". Racecar Engineering. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ Elizalde, Pablo (2009-03-06). "Brawn targets 'respectable' performance". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ Glendenning, Mark (2009-03-09). "Brawn enjoy promising start to testing". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
- ^ Beer, Matt (2009-03-11). "Button shows Brawn's pace in Spain". Autosport.com. Autosport Media UK. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
- ^ "Felipe Massa Q&A: Brawn threat is genuine". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 2009-03-13. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
- ^ "Barrichello keeps Brawn on top!". f1-live.com. 2009-03-12. Archived from the original on 2009-03-15. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ "Brawn GP arrives". Grandprix.com. Inside F1. 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
- ^ Whyatt, Chris (2009-03-29). "Button seals dream Australia win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ "Brilliant Button wins on Brawn debut". Eurosport.co.uk. Yahoo!. 2009-03-31. Archived from the original on 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ "Vettel charges to dominant win". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 2009-06-21. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
- ^ "Murray Walker answers questions".
- ^ "Technical analysis: Spanish GP". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 2009-05-18. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
- ^ "Button halts Red Bull charge". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 2009-06-07. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
- ^ "Brawn GP announces new partnership with Henri Lloyd". Brawn GP. 2009-03-26. Archived from the original on 2009-11-27. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
- ^ "Brawn GP announces partnership with Virgin". Brawn GP. 2009-03-28. Archived from the original on 2009-11-27. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
- ^ "Brawn GP confirms partnership with M I G Investments". Brawn GP. 2009-04-17. Archived from the original on 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
- ^ "Brawn teams up with the Terminator". ITV-F1.com. 2009-05-08. Retrieved 2009-05-08.[dead link]
- ^ "Brawn new deal with Graham London". Archived from the original on 2009-08-25. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
- ^ Wong, Jonathan (2009-09-18). "Brawn-Canon tie-up for Singapore GP". motoring.asiaone.com. The Straits Times.
- ^ "Equipe de Barrichello terá patrocinador brasileiro no GP do Brasil, em Interlagos" (in Portuguese). Globoesporte.com. 2009-09-08.
- ^ "Brawn GP BGP 001". StatsF1. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ "All championship race entries, in a Brawn BGP-001". ChicaneF1. Retrieved 18 September 2021.