A curious case of Brawn and Button

Over the last decade or so I have become from a follower to a fanatic as far as few things in sports go. Formula One racing is one of them. Moto GP, EPL and NBA being the others. With the advent of satellite TV sitting at home I could watch all the build up, frenzy, glitz and glamour and finally the Formula one races itself. From a curious onlooker, to a fan and finally to a crazy fanatic - it all took just 2 seasons of Michael Schumacher's class act with Ferrari. But over the last few seasons since Schumacher had retired, my interest levels had gone down a bit. However I kept myself abreast of the changing technology, rules and regulations etc.

Last season my interest renewed with the advent of Force India Formula One team. Through the season while I was not watching the races with the same eagerness as before but I kept tab on the action and the results and more importantly on the championship challenge. As usual Ferrari was up there with Massa and Raikonen. Lewis Hamilton a rookie in 2007 who went out to almost clinch the championship was also in the reckoning. I still remember very clearly in what was a great race with a nail biting and yet a bit controversial finish, Hamilton was lucky to win the championship in the year 2008.

Come 2009 there was the usual buzz of new rules and technology, drivers will be awarded medals like Olympics and champion will be decided on number of wins, but what was of most interest to me was the result of all this - a slightly different looking car. Our own Force India got a a new look, and I would say the cars looked great. About a week before the race Ferrari commented that Brawn GP was the one to watch out for. That comment made me wonder, a team put together with drivers who were pretty much back markers for the last two seasons in a car which is put on the track hardly 4 weeks before the season started is a serious contender fr Ferrari!!! Hmmm....

With a not so great outing during the pre-qualifiers I thought that it was all gas no fruit. But come the qualifiers I was proven wrong and how. While other teams and drivers were struggling with the new cars and technology here was a team where one driver has just won once in 156 races and the other on the wrong side of 35 thought to be already planning his retirement cracking the circuit. They qualified 1-2. Commentators and experts while acting surprised, started taking the garb of stability and ability of the cars to complete the race. When they won the race 1-2 to create history, the argument was will they remain competitive through the year!!!

I went through the pages of Formula One history to read about the Brawn-Button team... Ross Brawn, who started as a milling machine operator with March Engineering way back in 1976, worked with Williams, Arrows and Jaguar teams before joining as a technical director with Benetton F1 team helping it win back-to-back World Drivers' Championships in 1994 and 1995 with Michael Schumacher, and to take the World Constructors' Championship in 1995. Brawn was credited by much of the specialist press with being an important part of these championships, particularly in terms of devising race strategy. After the initial rebuilding years, he (as Ferrari technical director) helped Ferrari regain glory when the team won the Constructors' Championship in 1999, the first of six consecutive titles. The Brawn-guided Scuderia also powered Schumacher to five consecutive drivers' titles, from 2000 to 2004. Brawn's contributions to this unprecedented string of titles has led many to label him as a vital member of the Ferrari "dream team" along with Schumacher, team principal Jean Todt and chief designer Rory Byrne. After a year with Honda in 2008, just weeks before the start of the 2009 season Brawn completed a 100% buy-out of Honda F1 and announced entry to the F1 World Championship under the new name Brawn GP. The Brawn team was given a financial boost on the eve of the Australian GP when Virgin boss Richard Branson announced he was going to become a team sponsor. Brawn completed his fairytale saga by watching his team of Jenson Button and Rubens Barichello grab a 1-2 in qualifying and go on to finish 1-2 in the opening Melbourne GP.

Jenson Button, a protege with title wins at Formula Ford championship, winner of McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award in 1998 and a best rookie performance in Formula 3 in 1999, entered the world of Formula One in 2000 with the Williams team. He made his first ever podium finish with a third place in the Malaysian Grand Prix with BAR Honda in 2003. Button took the first win of his career in 2006 at a chaotic Hungarian Grand Prix - the 113th Grand Prix start of his career. Post a couple of dismal seasons with the Honda team, Button along with his partner Barichello was without a team at the end of 2008 season. And it looked like he had to plan his sabbatical. But with hardly weeks to go before the starting of the season, Brawn GP team was announced with the same set of drivers and as they say the rest is history.

A curious case of Brawn and Button indeed!