Brawn BGP 001

Vorlage:Racing car The Brawn BGP 001 is a Formula One racing car, designed and built by Brawn GP. It was their first Formula One car and is being used by them to contest the 2009 Formula One season. It was unveiled at Silverstone in the United Kingdom on March 6, 2009.

Team driver Jenson Button gave the BGP 001 its first test run on the same day it was launched, before a more comprehensive testing and development program saw the car appear at the Circuit de Catalunya on March 9–12 and at the Circuito de Jerez on March 15–18, before the Australian Grand Prix on March 29. The car has seen success since and by Bahrain had won three of the four races with a constant podium appearance.

The car was also involved in the diffuser appeal which was rejected by the FIA leaving the car's diffuser legal.

Testing

Side details of the BGP 001.

Honda began development for their 2009 car early in the 2008 season.Vorlage:Fact In December 2008, Honda announced their plans to withdraw from F1. Development of what would become the BGP 001 continued whilst a buyer was sought for the team. The team were purchased by Team Principal Ross Brawn, and the outfit renamed Brawn GP. On the day of the BGP 001s debut, Jenson Button performed the shakedown – the car featuring white, fluorescent yellow and black colours. Brawn GP gave the BGP 001 its first test at the Circuit de Catalunya on 9 March 2009, topping the timesheets early on in the first session, eventually finishing the session in fourth. On day two, Rubens Barrichello took over and completed 111 laps finishing third in the standings. This was followed by Button topping the timesheets on the third day by over a second clear of Felipe Massa's Ferrari, completing 130 laps. In response, Massa hailed the BGP 001 as the most competitive pre-season car, stating that he doesn't think anyone can top their times and that Ferrari is currently less competitive than Brawn GP. On the final day of the test, Barrichello replicated the feat of his team-mate; topping the time sheets by over eight-tenths of a second from Nico Rosberg's Williams, completing 110 laps.

With the testing moving to Circuito de Jerez, Brawn continued to set the pace, six-tenths clear of Renault's Fernando Alonso, completing 107 laps. Alonso topped the timesheets on day two, edging Barrichello into second leaving Button third, as the drivers completed 74 laps between them. On the final day, Button topped once again, two-tenths clear of Rosberg with Nelson Piquet Jr. and Lewis Hamilton further behind.

Engine and transmission

The BGP 001 uses a Mercedes-Benz FO108W engine, supplied through a customer deal. Per the 2009 regulations, the engine is a naturally aspirated unit with eight cylinders in a 'V' configuration and is rev-limited to 18,000 RPM. Originally the car was designed around a Honda-designed engine, however when the organisation 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.

Unlike Mercedes' other customers Force India who take supply of both the engine and a Mercedes designed transmission, the BGP 001 uses a semi-automatic transmission designed in-house at Brawn. This provides seven forward gears and one reverse gear, and is operated using two paddles located on the steering wheel. As of the second race of the 2009 season, Brawn have not opted to use a Kinetic Energy Recovery System, which would provide an extra Vorlage:Convert for up to 6.6 seconds a lap, due to the constraints such a device would place on the design of the car and the extra weight it would add. Ross Brawn has suggested that a KERS is not currently a high priority for the team.

2009

The controversial diffuser of the BGP 001.

Jenson Button at the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix.

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. However the race stewards did not share that view and rejected the other teams' complaints. Subsequently the car was cleared to race in Melbourne.

Brawn started quickly at the season opening Vorlage:F1 gp, comfortably sitting in the top five in Friday practice. In qualifying itself Jenson Button took pole with fellow teammate Rubens Barrichello coming 2nd followed by Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel. This was followed by a race win for Jenson Button with Barrichello second giving Brawn a 1-2 finish on their debut, which had not happened since Vorlage:F1. Button started off well but Barrichello started slowly and created an accident at the first corner involving Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld. Button led the whole of the race with the only challenge coming at the end of each safety car phase with Robert Kubica's shunt with Vettel placing Barrichello back in second. He took the chequered flag from behind the safety car.

Button also won the next race, from pole and picked up his first fastest lap, in the rain halted Vorlage:F1 gp after no testing in the wet. Button had a bad start but his teammate Barrichello managed a good start and moved up the grid. Both drivers were stuck behind Fernando Alonso's Renault in the first lap but both got past in the early race. Button caught up with Jarno Trulli and in the two laps after Nico Rosberg and Jarno Trulli's pitstops put in two fast laps. Button led the race after pitting and took the win on lap 31.

There was an appeal launched on the 'diffuser cars' but was rejected by the FIA on Wednesday 14th April, 2009 leaving the diffuser on the BGP 001 clear to race.

Button at the Vorlage:F1 gp

At the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix Barrichello qualified in front of Button for the first time this season but in the rain Jenson Button finished 3rd with Rubens Barrichello 4th behind the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Even though Barrichello seemed to struggle he still recorded the fastest lap.

Button won again at the Vorlage:F1 gp from fourth on the grid with Barrichello in fifth from sixth. Button ran most of the race in clean air and maintained the lead after the Toyota's pitted and fell down the order. This was the first time they were slower with the corrected qualifying times in the season and was blamed on the lack of development on the car.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	WCC
Vorlage:F1	Brawn GP F1 Team	Mercedes FO108W V8	B		AUS	MALVorlage:Smallsup	CHN	BHR	ESP	MON	TUR	GBR	GER	HUN	EUR	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN	BRA	ABU	50*	1st*
				Jenson Button	1	1	3	1
				Rubens Barrichello	2	5	4	5

* Season in progress.
Vorlage:Smallsup Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance completed.

External links

Commons: Brawn BGP 001 – Sammlung von Bildern, Videos und Audiodateien

• Technical Specification - from Brawn GP official website