Iconic Brawn GP F1 car to go under the hammer
Incredible chance to own a significant piece of the greatest underdog story in F1
The “groundbreaking” 2009 Brawn GP chassis 001/01 Formula 1 machine, which won the F1 world championship in 2009, is to be sold at auction at the Miami Grand Prix in May.
Brawn, born out of the ruins of car giant Honda’s Brackley-based F1 team (which the following year became Mercedes F1), is one of sport’s great underdog stories. Few expected the under-funded team to be competitive in its debut year, but Brawn not only took part — it utterly dominated the opening half of the season, and held on to win both the constructors’ and drivers’ championships, the latter with Jenson Button at the wheel. It was also the talented British driver’s only title victory in his long career.
Auctioneer Bonhams Cars showed off chassis 001/01 at Retromobile in Paris this week, a prestigious global automotive event, and announced that it will be going under the hammer at the US race in the spring.
Louis Frankel, Miami head of sale for Bonhams Cars, said: “This car represents the ultimate Formula 1 fairytale – a revolutionary design that redefined what was possible.
“Chassis 001/01 is a piece of motorsport history, and its offering at auction is sure to captivate collectors worldwide.
“We are honoured to present this unrepeatable opportunity over the Miami Grand Prix, a stage befitting its legendary status.”
Just three Brawn GP F1 cars were ever constructed. Chassis 001/01 made its debut in Brawn’s 1-2 finish at the 2009 F1 season opener in Australia, its dominance in the sport largely courtesy of the clever but controversial “double diffuser” design at the rear of the vehicle.
Thought up by one of Honda’s aerodynamicists, Saneyuki Minegawa, and deployed by the Brawn team, the double diffuser was a smart interpretation of some new and vague regulations introduced that year. It was used generate a lot more downforce at the back of the car than was delivered by rival machines without the feature.
This became clear at the pre-season test at Barcelona in November 2008, where Rubens Barrichello set a lap time a full second quicker than any other car on track. And following the Brawn’s utterly dominant showing throughout the first round in Australia, the team’s competitors questioned the legality of the device — but it was later allowed by governing body the FIA following a “terse” hearing. Brawn’s competitors quickly caught up, resulting in a tense second half of the 2009 season, but Button and the team managed to hang on to clinch both titles.
Brawn GP’s unlikely triumph is such a compelling tale of outsiders succeeding against all odds that it was turned into a four-part documentary series for Disney called Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story, presented by Hollywood star and petrolhead Keanu Reeves.
In the midst of a global economic crisis — and with poor results during its 2008 F1 campaign, at the end of which Barrichello and Button only managed 14th and 18th respectively in the drivers’ standings — Honda made the decision to withdraw from F1, despite a formerly glittering history in the sport.
But the team’s technical director, Ross Brawn, along with CEO Nick Fry, decided to purchase what was left of Honda F1 with a totally symbolic £1 offer, and managed to scrape together enough capital to keep the lights on and enter in 2009 as Brawn GP.
Without the serious financial backing of a major motor manufacturer like Honda, stripped of development time ahead of the F1 campaign, and with Brawn and Fry only securing a last-minute deal with Mercedes to be engine suppliers, few believed the newcomers had much of a chance in the 2009. Many expected them to run out of cash during the season.
And with limited development time, Button only drove chassis 01 for the first time at Silverstone, seven days before the official Barcelona test.
But with the double diffuser working its magic, and the might of the Mercedes powerplant, the Brawns proved a sensation. Button won six of the first seven races, taking victory in Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain, Monaco and Turkey, while Barrichello in the second car was the only one who could run him close during this scintillating opening to the campaign — securing four podium finishes at Australia, Spain, Monaco and Silverstone, with a further two race wins himself in chassis 03.
Brawn totted up four 1-2 finishes during the campaign — unheard of for a team outside of the usual then-dominant forces in the sport, such as Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren.
That year, the British GP at Silverstone in late June was seen as a turning point, as Brawn’s early dominance evaporated and the other teams began to outperform them, but Button and Barrichello had done enough — and continued to pick up plenty of meaningful points finishes — to see the British driver eventually crowned champion with 95 points, ahead of Red Bull’s Sebastien Vettel in second on 84 points.
Barrichello was third with 77 points, which was ample to secure Brawn GP the constructors’ championship with 172 points from Red Bull-Renault’s tally of 153.5.
Only three Brawn GP chassis were made — 01, 02 and 03. The championship-winning chassis of Button was 02 and went to Ross Brawn, while engine supplier Mercedes received Barrichello’s later-season 03 chassis.
But 01 was gifted to Button due to a clause in his contract and has been in his private collection pretty much ever since. It will be the only Brawn GP F1 chassis to be made available publicly when it goes on sale, having left Button’s ownership in 2024.
There’s no indication of precisely what price this slice of F1 history could achieve when the sale gets underway in spring, so all eyes will be on the sale, taking place in the evening of May 3 directly on the racetrack at Miami.
During the Bonhams auction involving Brawn GP chassis 001/01, more than 35 modern supercars will also be up for grabs. Registered bidders will attend in person, with a huge global audience able to watch via online streaming.
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