Brawn GP have come from the ashes of Honda to become world champions. We look at their rise...
Brawn GP have come from the ashes of Honda to become world champions in less than a year. We look at their astonishing rise to title glory.
It was a little over 10 months ago Honda stunned the world of motorsport by announcing they were pulling out of Formula One.
However, the Brazilian Grand Prix has heralded the completion of one of the most astonishing sporting revivals in history as Jenson Button and the team risen from Honda's ashes in Brawn GP are world champions.
Few people could have predicted the remarkable transformation of a team that was staring into the abyss when Honda Motor Co. in Japan announced they were ending their nine-year involvement in F1.
As much as it sent shockwaves through the sport, the decision was perfectly understandable as Honda cited the credit crunch and the need to protect the manufacturer's core businesses.
But on the other hand it was equally remarkable as the Japanese manufacturer had spent a fortune over the preceding six months developing a car in readiness for the most sweeping rule changes to engulf the sport for 25 years.
Early into the 2008 season it had become very apparent the car built was a dud, a shameful waste of manpower and resources.
Mercifully, Honda had at their disposal their shrewdest investment in technical director Ross Brawn, albeit employed too late to stop the introduction of a car that was an embarrassment to F1.
It was Brawn who recognised the need to turn the team's attention to 2009 as soon as possible, especially as the new regulations on paper afforded the opportunity for scope and vision.
In Brawn, Honda possessed a man who had a talismanic touch, the 54 -year-old seen as one of the cornerstones of Ferrari's rise.
Refreshed from a year's sabbatical, Brawn accepted Honda's offer rather than a return to Ferrari, and a new challenge awaited.
With a seemingly bottomless pit of money to dip into, Brawn set about building a team around him to turn a back-of-the-grid car into a title challenger.
You could sense the firm hand of Brawn over the team because not once did drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello moan about their lot through 2008 despite the 'tank' they were driving.
Why? Because they knew what was coming, sensing that after two years in the F1 wilderness, 2009 could finally be their year.
So when Honda delivered their blow, it was as good as a punch to the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of all within the team, especially Button who genuinely felt at the time his F1 days were numbered.
Bombshell
When he visited the factory the day after Honda had dropped their bombshell it was in the hope his presence would inspire the staff, instead it proved to be the other way around as he was a man in need of solace.
Witnessing the engineers and other personnel still working on the 2009 challenger, rather than moping around wondering what Christmas would entail, gave the 29-year-old renewed heart.
But the following months were not without their travails, as even Brawn noted after the team's salvation was confirmed just three weeks prior to the start of the season that there were many "black days".
It was Brawn who was the team's white knight as he spearheaded a management buy-out, albeit shrewdly utilising Honda's resources.
Millions of pounds would have been spent on making the 700-staff redundant, instead, with the money also available from the 2008 prize fund, Brawn GP was born.
It was not without some pain along the way as cutbacks were still required to ensure the operation was leaner and more efficient.
But when the car hit the track for the first time in Barcelona on March 9, resplendent with a Mercedes engine providing an extra 60bhp, paddock eyes widened in astonishment at its early speed.
Button and Barrichello, whose services were only acquired just days previously, could not contain their smiles, erasing the misery they had endured the previous two seasons.
And that straight-out-of-the-box speed was no fluke either as the team blew away their rivals with a one-two on opening day in Australia.
It was the first time since 1954, when the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio led home Karl Kling for Mercedes, that a debut team had taken first and second in a grand prix.
It was fairytale stuff, notably for Button as further wins followed in Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain, Monaco and Turkey, the latter the last time he stood atop the podium.
Not all has gone to plan since, and searching questions have been asked of the Briton and of Brawn as a team.
But neither he nor they will care a jot about that at this moment, not now they stand atop the most significant platform - F1's world stage.
