BBC Sport’s Ted Kravitz always comes up with some great insider type blogs, and his latest episode post-Abu Dhabi is more of the same.
This time he reveals something that I certainly had never heard before, and that’s regarding a ballsy move taken by Brawn GP boss Ross after Jenson Button’s sixth win of the year.
Ross says that he decided at that point their car was looking strong enough to finish out the season, so switched the factory’s focus to developing the 2010 car.
Which certainly goes some way to explaining Jenson’s dip in form for the latter part of the year, although they did turn the wind tunnel back on once in the middle of the summer – just before Rubens Barrichello’s two wins at European and Italian GPs – and then right at the end of the season to help secure the two championships.
Considering that they got the jump on everyone at the beginning of this season and held onto a good form for the rest of the year, how strong do you think next year’s car is going to be?
Especially now they’ve been able to factor in running the Mercedes engine this time around, rather than shoehorning it in at the last minute like they had with the 2009 car.
2010 is already shaping up to be an intense championship. Only 122 days to go…
Does that mean Brawn has been scouring through the FIA regulations to see if there’s any other technicalities that can be exploited?
Brawn will probably be the team to beat again during the first part of next season.
That said, McLaren & Ferrari’s poor form this year has likely driven them both to put more time, resource and money into next season’s car so I’d expect them to be up front again alongside the Brawns.
Would be nice to see Red Bull with them as well but I’m not so sure, given their tendency to wear out tyres sooner (a big no-no with the rules next year).
I think the start of next season will be slightly more balanced simply because of the drop Brawn got on the competition by taking the FIA at the their word over the diffuser issue. Next time around they won;t have that advantage, but it’s not as if the other teams didn’t get the chance to catch up throughout so it’ll be a strong showing regardless. Let’s just hope there aren’t any last minute rule changes to nail the benefits of early R&D.
interesting twist to what happened to them over the summer or just a nice little cover up…. and sorry, i dislike jenson, and don’t think he’s worthy, but maybe he’ll prove me wrong next year
If only the FIA changed back the aero rules. The 2009 cars are still ‘in your face’ ugly and as long as they are that ugly F1 will loose even more viewers/teams/attention, easy as that!
Beano,
JB did win more races and accumulate more points than anyone else during the season. Hopefully I won’t fall off my bike this winter………
Anyone posting childish remarks that JB didn’t deserve to be World Champion is not a fan of motor sport. Period. JB won more races then anyone. In fact more then Lewis Hamilton in his Championship year! Was you moaning then? No. Thought not. Also JB had to deal with a car that was caught up by virtually the whole of the grid and still managed to get enough points to win the Championship. Remember a car that held it’s engine in with ‘sticky tape’ because it didn’t fit. We should applauding this fantastic achievement that Brawn GP pulled off.
He also won more races than Lewis did last year, and had full points been awarded in Malaysia, he would have scored more than him as well (rather than three fewer). Not that there’s any point having this discussion AGAIN.
“switched the factory’s focus to developing the 2010 car.”
This time he can’t cheat by using hondas millions, everyone forgets that they stopped working on the RA108 around june 2008 to concentrate all their efforts developing the mickeymouse regulation 09 car.
Honda pulls the plug, brawn adds the cheater rear diffuser and voila fraudGP dominate the first half of the season. when the rest of the constructors caught up around june butthole and his cheater car did not win a single race, coincidence?
Jenson butthole in his Fraud GP should thank Honda for paying for the brawn workforce and pumping millions into developing the 2009 car. If Brawn started with nothing like Toyota, lotus and USGP butthole would be a moving chicane.
I was certainly happy when I read that first, if Brawn can slow development on an essentially taped together car and still win both championships, imagine how good they may be next year. Can’t wait
Ferrari has been working on their 2010 car for some time as well. This is another reason budget capping the teams would not work. How would you figure out if money spent this year is for this year’s car or next year’s car?
Folks like Mutton complain about Brawn and Honda’s help with the 2009 car. It just reality and you have to get over it. The only people who did anything wrong was Honda. They made a stupid move by leaving when they did.
Good for Brawn and Brawn GP. It certainly makes sense in light of the advances at RBR and McLaren in the second half of the season. Diverting funds to the 2010 campaign makes more sense than the “Jenson can’t really drive” nonsense. I think any driver in F1 is capable with the right car and team around them.
I hope Brawn doesn’t listen to Nay Sayers about ‘cheating’ – which is ludicrous. The only way he could cheat is to somehow sabotage the other teams or their cars instead of building a better one. I think it’s great to see Innovation that isn’t Ferrari or McLaren.
Of course, I’ll be pulling for USF1 next year – I love underdogs.
Ok, you’re making a fairly valid excuse for Jenson’s rather lacklustre mid-late season performances but you conveniently fail to mention that despite suffering the same set-back, Rubens generally out-performed Jenson for much of the same period.
Conversely, your point also highlights just how much of Jenson’s early-mid season dominance was reliant on the car’s abilty – yes, most of us do have memories long enough to remember double-diffuser-gate
However, I DO think Jenson deserved to be champion, if only because he made the most of having the best car early on in the season – other drivers have had the best car in the past and not won the championship, so fair dues. BU..PLEASE stop floging this dead horse/load of old pony, trying to convince all of us that Jenson is, in fact, a much better driver than he is given credit for. He’s very good. Full stop.
Hey Mutton Futtwit,
You must be about 5 years old or have the intelligence and maturity of a child. Honda millions? How about Ferrari / Mclaren millions.Mickeymouse regs?- Everyone had the same regs and chance.Cheater rear diffuser- redbull et al didn’t think so and nor did fia etc. He also beat hands down Rubens – the most experienced F1 racer of all time. Go of and have a good cry
brawn plz dont make the car white again!
120Y,
I admit it isnt the best paint job on the grid, (how i will miss toyota)I can see it turning into a paintjob that the team will want to keep, like mclaren’s plain (metal) body colour.
122 days 2 go!!!!cant wait
I think we can ignore ‘mutton’ – “If Brawn started with nothing like Toyota…”
oh dear. well there’s nothing quite like proving you don’t know what you’re talking about…
Just remember, Brawn don’t have much money for next season – this year’s car was the result of Honda’s squillions. They’ll still be up there next year, but McLaren and Ferrari are gonna be strong for next year.
yup, hopefully next year BGP should be competitive since this time the car and engine match up, and Button’s smooth style should maximize tire wear. but i do fear that next year might turn into a boring endurance race, where the drivers are scared to drive hard in fear of wearing their tires down prematurely.
btw, i just love it how people call Brawns diffuser illegal when both Williams and Toyota had similar diffusers at the beginning of the season, but no one seems to care about that =P
Mutton you are an Idiot!! F1 is all about how you interpret the rules and how to walk the line of illegal and legal. The Brawn car was nothing short of pure genius. No matter how much or how little Honda contributed, at the end of the day Brawn made the most of a very very bad situation. The fact that the Merc engine wasnt meant for them in the first place and that it was shoehorned in and pretty much held in with gaffer tape shows true grit and they totally deserve to be double world champs.
I also completely disagree with ANYONE who says JB is not a worthy champ. Of course he flippin is. More points, more wins and consistency = world champion.
I wish people would have a valid argument before coming on here and spouting off!
I wanna see Brawn in Black and Gold sort of colour scheme, like Lotus in the 70’s.
It was great to see CANON back on the sides again this year albeit for a quick burst on their bawnjo, Wonder who will be sponsoring who this year?
Might even be more exciting if Toby and Julien are commentating …
Oops – Next year !
Brawn no longer have the resources to win. Brackley now has 1/2 the employees it used to and funding won’t be as large as last year. Brawn can now only hope to be as good as Williams.
button rule’s
I spoke to him and I know he’s not going to shave his beard off!
Think you all might just want to look at the bigger picture so consistancy wins the championship ok who was the most cons lst yr lewis, button had soo many excuse about his bad car we all got tired of listerning…. who was the most this yr button btu then we still had the excuses when he didnt do well hamilton had a bad car no excusess just its “crap” lewis scored more points than jenson in the second half so it was a game of two half but take the two season together and both with a good car and a bad car each across the two who then was the most consistant……………Lewis……….l ets hope they both have good cars nxt yr and finaly it will be told who is worthy of being the World No 1!
Interesting post.
So if Vettel had caught Button would it be because he was a better driver or because he had the better car?
So many cars improved dramatically over the season:
Red Bull, Force India, Ferrari, McLaren. But Brawn did just enough to hold them off.
Also, if Button isn’t worthy, who is?
Also now there is an ex Ferrari director at the head of the FIA lets see how far he can bend “sorry Cheat” his way round the rules to help them win as they certanly wont do it with just the car…..
They shall be in the midfield, Buttons not that good, and Mclaren and Ferrari will be back on form
I didnt say he wasnt worthy and as you have said he did just enought to win so for that he deserve to be champ its the tortois and hare all over it doesnt matter how you do as long as you win in the end, & yes many did improve as for Vettle the red bull was very good in clear air hence they changed the way they did their statergy they seamed to run very light to get the clear air or they worked it knowin the the pole sitter would leave them for dead hence still givin them the clear air & just enough to keep in front of the pack
I have to say, I dont remember this much argueing when Lewis won the title. And lets be honest, he had choked in Brazil…again..only to be bailed out by Timo Glock at the last corner on the last lap.
Im not a fan of Jenson to be honest either, but there can be no denying he is a worthy champion.
Raikkonen summed it all up perfectly…”The worthy champion is the guy with the most points at the end of the last race”. FACT.
But thats all done and dusted now, looking forward to 2010, I think we could be in for a 3 tier system.
McLaren looked so strong in the last few races, they will be very fast next year, as will Ferrari, Red Bull and possibly Brawn.
Williams, Force India and Renault(if they are still around) will be the midfield. Then Torro Rosso will be the in-betweeners as all the new teams battle it out between them getting lapped by the leaders at every race.
Bottom line is, overtaking should go up next year. Back-markers always make it more intersting. That was missing from 2009 cos the field was so close.
I just hope Raikkonen goes to McLaren and Alonso and Massa have a big girly fight…cos F1 needs some feuding drivers. Its gone too nicey, nicey! Trulli and Sutil!!!! Thats the spirit lads!
Feuding, top racing and competitive back-markers and 2010 is set to be a cracker. Oh and finally, qualifying has gone back down sensible road….FASTEST WINS QUALI. and
MOST POINTS AT END OF SEASON IS THE WORTHY CHAMP. end of.
I’m very much sure Ferrari will come back with a vengeance.. and so will McLaren w/out them having to use K.E.R.S. next season.
Team Brawn and Red Bull will kind of dominate the first few races but other teams will greatly improve.
Jenson did win the championship, fair and square.
He had most points, and in order to have most points he had to drive quite well..
But, I’m still not a fan of Jenson. I’ve never been. Don’t ask me why, I just don’t dig him. But he is our -09 champion nonetheless.
I really do hope that Kimi will go to McLaren, will get a proper, reliable car that will actually last for the whole race without something going wrong.
Would be nice seeing Kimi and Lewis constantly trying to out-perform one another with the same car.
And I do want to see Kimi spanking Alonso, slapping Ferrari and taking a sh*t in Santander’s face.
Jenson didn’t make a mistake all year and has the smoothest driving style off all. He deserves it!!
Hope Mercedes will stick to McLaren, they belong together. Hope they will kick mr.cheater Alonso’s ass indeed, I was a tifosi but not anymore ..
Dear Mr Clarkson
In my opinion you the very embodyment of J.Robertson.Jagworth the general secretary of the Motorist Liberation Front to be found still lurking in the Daily Telegraph .First class entertainment
David
nice one brawn and button both titles well done jenson he deserves this title his driving was brilliant all year
I think there’s something to be said for not allowing development on the cars during the season at all. Then the 2009-car is just that. It’s not a B-, C- or even D-version. As long as they get enough time during the winter to do their job right of course.
Yes, there’s a lot against it as well, I know. But this year nearly everone had a new frontwing nearly every race. That’s not what F1 is about, is it? Doing your homework during the exam?
its going to be a good year but no refueling means a danger of overtaking
I think the BBC should be praised top coverage cant wait for next year
Tak. F1 is about the forefront of motorsport technology and design. Teams should be allowed to develop their cars mid-season. So if you’ve got a bad car you’re stuck with it? How would that promote exciting racing if for instance Red Bull had not been allowed to develop their car to catch and eventually overtake the Brawns?
LOL @ the idiots saying Button doesnt deserve, you all forget that when Schumacher and Ferrari was dominating in 2004, the nearest competitor was Jensen Button in the BAR.
At Honda he was ‘rubbish’ not because he isnt a good driver (lets face it he is a VERY good driver) and the car wasnt rubbish, it just had WAY TOO MUCH downforce and an absolutely lacklustre Honda engine.
Also its all well and good having the best car, but you still need to be the best driver to win with that car, and in Brawns case they had two drivers who could do this, when Button wasnt winning he was still making the most of where his car was took advantage of ALL the opportunities that presented themselves to him, he even did this in the last two years in a car that was as effective as tooth pick in a sword fight.
If it was all the car, then why was Barrichello still struggling in the first half of the season?
my money’s still on brawn.who’s partnering jenson next year?
Only? 122 days is 4 months! That is long!
But hey, there’s always WRC at the moment? =P
But if I were Ross Brawn himself that is I would do. I mean, there’s no point in an overkill championship win…
no, no, no, the reason jenson slowed down is coz of the weight of his beard!! have a shave Jenson, thatll quicken things up a bit!
Well yes, it looked like a reasonable advantage over Red Bulls, Vettel and Webber never reached under 15 points from the lead. Good choice Ross
Brawn-Ferrari battle next year i think. both teams started 2010 cars early so both teams should have the jump. i hope Ferrari is the better of the 2
@Mutton … dear oh dear
You seem to be carrying a huge chip … it looks heavey ..
All teams are give a set of guidelines by which to work with within , brawn + 1 or 2 others read it properly..( and a court room finding agreed )they got a jump ..thats not cheating m8 … thats just having the right people .. suck it up
Calling JB “butthole” to be perfectly honest just makes you look rather foolish , you also strike me as a bad loser .. not having a good day are you all round … you just dont like that Ross if on his own and kicking ass ..JB proved himself in Brazil m8 end of … so run along and start praying they dont kick yer ass again next year ! x
@42 Well, yeah. As I said, there’s a lot that speaks against it as well. But a ban on updates sounds better than a ban on testdrives, right?
@43 couldnt agree more. Better case is mclaren. this year, lewis won races and got 5th in the championship with 49 points with a dog of the car at the beginning of the season, yet kovalianen, his teammate, in exactly the same car, got nowhere, with 22 points in exactly the same car.
Last year hamilton won the championship in his mclaren, yet Kovy only came 7th.
proves its not just the car that wins a championship.
all of these hate comments make some of you sound like rubens barichello giving his “blah blah blah its not fair” speech.
Their was no cheating. its just other teams excuses for why brawn was so dominant. FACT is they didnt think of it, brawn, williams and toyota did, they were alot more cleverer when interpreting the rules and other teams were not.
Formula 1 is very competitive, and if their wasnt clever thinking from teams like brawn, then you would have a field of cars that all looked the same which i think is very similar to other series like GP2, which in turn wouldnt make formula 1 what it is.
no one else stepped up to the challenge to take it away from button, yet people still say button isnt worthy :S get a grip.
I think it’s quite telling that Ross Brawn hasn’t given in to Jenson Button’s demand for a (relatively modest) pay rise yet – some drivers he’d snap-up straight away for fear of losing them to another team but maybe Ross is thinking: “Well, i’ve got the very talented Nico Rosberg signed-up for next year and although it would be great to retain Jenson for 2010, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I replaced him with a low-wage exciting up-and-coming rookie..”. Just a thought.
I feel a bit sorry for Jenson because I suppose it’s quite insulting that despite being world champion he’s still having to negotiate to get a bit more money. On the flip-side, everyone knows what a genious Ross Brawn is and many drivers on the grid would do anything to get to drive in one of his cars – such is his reputaion within F1.
I expect a compromise will be met and Jenson will stay at Brawn but i’m sure this episode will leave a bitter taste in his mouth.
I think that all of you sore losers should just shut up. Calling jenson “butthole” makes you seem immature and, to be perfectly honest, quite stupid. He had a fantastic performance this season, not only because of the car built with the honda millions, but also because of his driving skills. How good the driver is is important, more important than the speed of the car. How else would you explain Kubica in 3rd/4th place in the first race of the season IN A BMW SAUBER before Vettel took him out?
Anyway, jenson deserves the world championship, so:
IN YOUR FACE FERRARI, MCLAREN, RBR FANS!!!
i hope jenson doesn’t get the money he’s asking for, he isn’t that good, when his rivals got their car in a level to match his, he showed what kind of driver he really is
It’s looking increasingly likely that Button will go to Mclaren if Brawn doesn’t play ball. I think Mclaren would choose Button over Raikkonen for one reason only – he’s a hell of alot cheaper!
I hope Button does go to Mclaren – maybe it’ll help to settle the argument about who’s better between Hamilton and Button fanboys
Jeez, i hope this is the last time i write this. IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, LEAVE IT, AND KEEP YOUR WHINGEING, BLABBING BACKSIDES OUT OF IT! (By the way, if you see this, then you know SOMEONE’S wound me up. Immature people. Jeez.)
Now that’s over, i’ll talk about what i was actually going to say.
I reckon that it will be a lot more balanced for the championship in 2010. Brawn will take the fight to Ferrari, McLaren and maybe Red Bull again, but this time, from the start of the season. Also, is the ban both on refuelling and tyres in a race? Because if there is, what, really, is the point of pitstops? Because the cars can’t use them, unless they either A. wreck or B. Have been black-flagged or C. Have to come in for a drive-thru penalty.
And anyway, what would have been made of Schuey if the car he was given in his racing time was the then-equivalent of a Force India? (i’m not disrespecting those guys, they are brave for sticking to the sport even though they tend to be very slow.) Or if he was a Luca Badoer? It goes to show that it is actually both elements of the racecars that can sew up the championship. @ Raj: I agree. It is the drivers as well.
So if you don’t like the drivers, or the teams in F1, i just need to say this.
You just got owned by a 13-year old.
Mutton, can’t comment for Button but Brawn gave an immediate and very heart felt thank you to all Honda employees especially those who had been let go when interviewed by BBC after sowing up WDC.
Horf touched on this earlier, with cost capping does the cost of this come out of 09 or 10 budget?
It’s an interesting tactical move because I believe it was the cause of Ferrari’s poor results especially in the earlier races. Seemed to be a real tough nut to tame.
Can’t wait for 2010, the refuelling ban puts much more emphasis back on the skill of the driver – I think it will really help seperate the men from the little boys.
@Nitroguy – did you watch the whole season? Yes, Force India were slow on tracks which did not suit their set-up but they were also lightning-quick on selected tracks earlier in the season. That’s why so many people were surprised when Fisichella swapped his Force India for a Ferrari – if that doesn’t tell you that Force India were fast at the time, then nothing will!