Welcome

This site is built by a fan for fans! I intend to keep as much information here about Brawn GP as I can find.

Keep popping back for more info, and post on any of the blogs.

If you would like to see anything different or leave feedback drop me an email via the KontactR Form.

Monday 31 August 2009

Brawn GP - Monza - Looking Forward

Firstly i'm going to apologise in advance, I'm off to Monza for my first none UK GP which obviously I can't wait for, we fly out from Luton on Wednesday evening :) .

Bad news is I doubt I will have access to update the blog. If I get chance I shall update it as much as I can.

Secondly - Anyone who is in the know or the right circles to get me closer to the team / drivers for some interviews or pit access etc I think it would be great for the blog. Contact me here Contact Me

Read more...

Brawn GP - Spa - Race Review

Firstly my apologies for my poor and lack of coverage for this weekends Belgian GP. Being bank holiday here in the UK and myself being in a tourism lead job meant I missed most of qualifying myself and had little time to update the blog.

Spa provided us with a rain free race day this year, however the drama was to be caused by the events on track and not the weather. Rubens starting in 4th but with the lightest car on the grid really needed to get a good launch into turn 1. Jenson on the other hand down in 14th needed a good launch and plenty of luck to not get collected into turn 1. Unfortunately Rubens found his car in anti stall once again after dumping the clutch to get away off the line, leaving him last on the grid.

Rubens commenting on the situation:
"Third time that we have that and I feel sorry really, it shouldn't happen," Barrichello told the BBC. "But honestly I haven't checked what happened but it was pretty much the same thing as the last races that I had [the slow start].

"I dumped the clutch and the anti-stall comes in and the car is not moving."

Jenson however had a stellar start and managed to eek his way into 8th by the 1st turn. However he wasn't prepared for what was about to come at Les Combes, Romain Grosjean punted Jenson from behind putting him into a spin which was also a catalyst for the dimise of Lewis Hamilton and Jaimie Alguersuari's departure from the race.

Jenson had the following to say about the incident and the race weekend:
"It can always be worse," Button said. "Also it could have been a lot better. Rubens got a bad start, had a problem and I was up in 12th or 11th, and it could have been a good race for me until I got hit at turn five."

He added: "After the accident now it's a relief, but having Rubens behind at the start was a good position to be in, and just behind the Red Bulls as well. So it was very disappointing when I actually crashed, but then to watch the race after...

"Rubens obviously got a couple of points, then Red Bull made a mistake in the pit stop and he wasn't able to score any points, which is good for the championship.

"This is a race we expected the Red Bulls to easily win, so it shows that a lot of teams are strong now.

"And when your weekend doesn't go perfectly, like it didn't for the Red Bulls because they had a bad position after qualifying, it's very difficult to win from that far back."

The Briton made contact with Renault's Romain Grosjean on the first lap, and the Frenchman said Button had taken him out of the race.

But the Brawn driver saw things differently.

"I can't believe he's blaming me. He hit me, but to be fair I don't really care. It's not really important. I didn't score any points, and that's what's important."

The four car incident prompted the release of the safety car whilst the cars and debris were removed from the track. Rubens used this as a a window of opportunity to adjust his strategy as whilst down in last place he could catch up to the back of the pack with more fuel and a fresh set of tyres. Rubens then proceeded to provide in my opinion a Spa masterclass using the BGP001 to full effect with some stellar laps and fantastic overtakes. I wonder if he had only lost a few places on the grid and remained on strategy how this fantastic driving would have panned out in the race. Rubens continued to push to the last with only an oil leak at the end of the race causing a smoke plume to follow him for the last 2 laps. Prior to this he had been hounding down Heikki and I believe would have passed the McLaren driver had he not had to turn it down to make it to the end of the race.

Sebastian Vettel was the only Red Bull Racing driver to score points at Spa so the constructors and drivers championship was not adjusted greatly. This is great news for both Brawn GP and Jenson Button, although I do feel that the way Rubens drove at Spa his championship points haul deserved a little more boost.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Belgian Grand Prix
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium;
44 laps; 308.052km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos Driver Time

1. Raikkonen 1h23:50.995
2. Fisichella + 0.939
3. Vettel + 3.875
4. Kubica + 9.966
5. Heidfeld + 11.276
6. Kovalainen + 32.763
7. Barrichello + 35.461
8. Rosberg + 36.208
9. Webber + 36.959
10. Glock + 41.490
11. Sutil + 42.636
12. Buemi + 46.106
13. Nakajima + 54.241
14. Badoer + 1:38.177

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:47.263

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap

Alonso Renault (B) 27
Trulli Toyota (B) 22
Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1
Grosjean Renault (B) 1
Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1
Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1

Read more...

Sunday 30 August 2009

Brawn GP - Spa - Qualifying

A very mixed up grid was formed for the Belgian GP with Fisichella taking a suprise pole position whilst a lot of the front runners languished towards the middle of the grid. Rubens aggressive strategy paid off and put him the mix at 4th while Jenson failed to make Q3 leaving him exposed in 14th. The saving grace that RBR didn't fair overly well either taking 8th and 9th and reducing the chances of Jenson losing too many points in the drivers championship to them. This is Rubens chance to really unhinge the championship and swing the door wide open in his favour.


Pos Driver Q1 Q2 Q3

1. Fisichella 1:45.102 1:44.667 1:46.308
2. Trulli 1:45.140 1:44.503 1:46.395
3. Heidfeld 1:45.566 1:44.709 1:46.500
4. Barrichello 1:45.237 1:44.834 1:46.513
5. Kubica 1:45.655 1:44.557 1:46.586
6. Raikkonen 1:45.579 1:44.953 1:46.633
7. Glock 1:45.450 1:44.877 1:46.677
8. Vettel 1:45.372 1:44.592 1:46.761
9. Webber 1:45.350 1:44.924 1:46.788
10. Rosberg 1:45.486 1:45.047 1:47.362
11. Sutil 1:45.486 1:45.119
12. Hamilton 1:45.239 1:45.122
13. Alonso 1:45.767 1:45.136
14. Button 1:45.707 1:45.251
15. Kovalainen 1:45.761 1:45.259
16. Buemi 1:45.705
17. Alguersuari 1:45.951
18. Nakajima 1:46.032
19. Grosjean 1:46.307
20. Badoer 1:46.359

All Timing Unofficial

Read more...

Saturday 29 August 2009

Brawn GP - Spa - Free Practice 3


Pos Driver Time Laps

1. Heidfeld 1:45.388 17
2. Trulli 1:45.462 + 0.074 18
3. Sutil 1:45.677 + 0.289 20
4. Grosjean 1:45.878 + 0.490 18
5. Glock 1:45.908 + 0.520 18
6. Kubica 1:45.987 + 0.599 18
7. Rosberg 1:46.040 + 0.652 19
8. Fisichella 1:46.114 + 0.726 21
9. Hamilton 1:46.301 + 0.913 17
10. Button 1:46.406 + 1.018 20
11. Raikkonen 1:46.409 + 1.021 19
12. Buemi 1:46.417 + 1.029 19
13. Kovalainen 1:46.462 + 1.074 17
14. Vettel 1:46.747 + 1.359 14
15. Alguersuari 1:46.814 + 1.426 22
16. Barrichello 1:46.815 + 1.427 19
17. Alonso 1:46.926 + 1.538 14
18. Badoer 1:47.055 + 1.667 20
19. Nakajima 1:47.078 + 1.690 19
20. Webber No time 3

All timing unofficial

Read more...

Brawn GP - Spa - Free Practice 2


Pos Driver Time Laps

1. Hamilton 1:47.201 29
2. Glock 1:47.217 + 0.016 29
3. Raikkonen 1:47.285 + 0.084 26
4. Webber 1:47.329 + 0.128 31
5. Grosjean 1:47.333 + 0.132 34
6. Fisichella 1:47.506 + 0.305 27
7. Trulli 1:47.559 + 0.358 33
8. Kubica 1:47.578 + 0.377 33
9. Alguersuari 1:47.579 + 0.378 36
10. Vettel 1:47.602 + 0.401 25
11. Buemi 1:47.702 + 0.501 38
12. Kovalainen 1:47.743 + 0.542 33
13. Sutil 1:47.790 + 0.589 29
14. Alonso 1:47.862 + 0.661 30
15. Nakajima 1:47.961 + 0.760 32
16. Heidfeld 1:48.017 + 0.816 30
17. Button 1:48.125 + 0.924 34
18. Barrichello 1:48.130 + 0.929 37
19. Rosberg 1:48.360 + 1.159 29
20. Badoer 1:49.211 + 2.010 30

All Timing Unofficial

Read more...

Brawn GP - Spa - Free Practice 1


Pos Driver Time Laps

1. Trulli 1:49.675 13
2. Button 1:50.283 + 0.608 18
3. Alonso 1:50.368 + 0.693 13
4. Buemi 1:51.045 + 1.370 20
5. Alguersuari 1:51.529 + 1.854 24
6. Barrichello 1:52.321 + 2.646 18
7. Raikkonen 1:52.930 + 3.255 16
8. Kovalainen 1:53.383 + 3.708 11
9. Kubica 1:53.650 + 3.975 12
10. Badoer 1:55.068 + 5.393 20
11. Fisichella 2:03.972 + 14.297 11
12. Rosberg 2:04.505 + 14.830 13
13. Grosjean 2:05.513 + 15.838 13
14. Heidfeld 2:05.614 + 15.939 14
15. Nakajima 2:05.705 + 16.030 15
16. Sutil 2:05.839 + 16.164 10
17. Webber 2:06.181 + 16.506 6
18. Glock 2:06.331 + 16.656 15
19. Vettel 1
20. Hamilton 4

All Timing Unofficial

Read more...

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Brawn GP - 2010 Sponsorship/Funding Secure

In an interview with http://www.autosport.com/ Nick Fry has alluded to the fact that 2010 and beyond are secure with deals already done to provide sponsorship to the team.


Q. You've won seven races out of the 11 held so far this year, but there is still a lot of white space on the car. Is there any concern about funding for this year or next year?

NF: We have zero worries on funding for this year, next year, the year after, and the year after that. I smile when people talk about money, because we've always had the finances for this year, and neither Ross nor I would not have taken on the team if we did not have the money for this year. We've signed some nice contracts, and those will come out into the open when we launch the car next year, but we will see what happens. There is zero worry on our side.

Q. Were those new sponsors signed over the summer break?

NF: When you are asking people for large amounts of money, it doesn't generally happen in five minutes. We've been talking to people from the beginning of this year when our situation changed, and it is fair to say that things have crystallized in the last month or so. I said at the beginning of the year that we were in the enviable position that we didn't have to hurry.

We were well covered for this year, and were covered well into next year, so it wasn't a situation where we had to jump at things that we were not quite sure about. I am pleased about the work we've done, and I think there is more to come as well. So, we've got an assured future from a financial and commercial point of view.

Q. Will Virgin be on the car next year?

NF: No.

Q. Definitely not?

NF: We've had a great relationship with Virgin. You have noticed different stickers from Virgin on the car over the year, and that is the result of additional requests from their side, which has increased our income as well which is nice. I think they have had a great initiation into F1, and we are helping where we can in advice about what they can do with Manor. I really do hope they are successful not only next year but beyond, because they are a good company and it is a good company for F1 to have.

The rest of the interview can be found here: www.autosport.com

Read more...

Sunday 23 August 2009

Brawn GP - Valencia - Great Win for Rubens

From start to finish this has been a great performance for Rubens all weekend. I made the prediction earlier in the week and took a bet at 25/1 so i'm happy having £26 back now :)
Again before the start of the race i mentioned it on twitter that I still believed Rubens would have the measure of the McLarens. Congratulations to Rubens first and foremost but also a big well done to the team and Jenson for a 7th place finish.

Classified:

Pos Driver Time
1. Barrichello 1h35:51.289
2. Hamilton + 2.358
3. Raikkonen + 15.994
4. Kovalainen + 20.032
5. Rosberg + 20.870
6. Alonso + 27.744
7. Button + 34.913
8. Kubica + 36.667
9. Webber + 44.910
10. Sutil + 47.935
11. Heidfeld + 48.822
12. Fisichella + 1:03.614
13. Trulli + 1:04.527
14. Glock + 1:26.519
15. Grosjean + 1:31.774
16. Alguersuari + 1 lap
17. Badoer + 1 lap
18. Nakajima + 3 laps

Fastest lap: Glock, 1:38.683

All timing unofficial

Read more...

Saturday 22 August 2009

Brawn GP - Valencia - Pre Race Reflection

Hi BGP fans, with Rubens taking 3rd on a much heavier fuel load than the 2 McLarens 3rd is a great result. Jenson however only managed to get 1 hot lap in at the end of Q3 which compromised his result and leaves him down in 5th and in the clutches of Kimi and his KERS enabled Ferrari.
Cast your mind back however to before the tyre temperature issues arose and the BGP001 was great at making the tyres last. IF it's right that the setups have equalised and the BGP001's performance is back to how it was it could make for a very interesting race.
Rubens and Jenson just need to drive their own races managing the tyre wear as usual whilst everyone else will have trouble with rear graining (appears to have been an issue for most teams during Friday and Saturday) They can bide their time whilst the others simply grain up and fall off the timings/circuit.

Read more...

Brawn GP - Valencia - Fuel Weights

The post qualifying fuel weights are as follows:


Pos Driver Weight (kg)

1. Hamilton 653.0
2. Kovalainen 655.0
3. Barrichello 662.5
4. Vettel 654.0
5. Button 661.5
6. Raikkonen 661.5
7. Rosberg 665.0
8. Alonso 656.5
9. Webber 664.5
10. Kubica 657.5
11. Heidfeld 677.0
12. Sutil 672.5
13. Glock 694.7
14. Grosjean 677.7
15. Buemi 688.5
16. Fisichella 692.5
17. Nakajima 702.0
18. Trulli 707.3
19. Alguersuari 678.5
20. Badoer 690.5

Read more...

Brawn GP - Valencia - Qualifying


Pos Driver Q1 Q2 Q3

1. Hamilton 1:38.649 1:38.182 1:39.498
2. Kovalainen 1:38.816 1:38.230 1:39.532
3. Barrichello 1:39.019 1:38.076 1:39.563
4. Vettel 1:39.295 1:38.273 1:39.789
5. Button 1:38.531 1:38.601 1:39.821
6. Raikkonen 1:38.843 1:38.782 1:40.144
7. Rosberg 1:39.039 1:38.346 1:40.185
8. Alonso 1:39.155 1:38.717 1:40.236
9. Webber 1:38.983 1:38.625 1:40.239
10. Kubica 1:38.806 1:38.747 1:40.512
11. Heidfeld 1:39.032 1:38.826
12. Sutil 1:39.145 1:38.846
13. Glock 1:39.459 1:38.991
14. Grosjean 1:39.322 1:39.040
15. Buemi 1:38.912 1:39.514
16. Fisichella 1:39.531
17. Nakajima 1:39.795
18. Trulli 1:39.807
19. Alguersuari 1:39.925
20. Badoer 1:41.413

All Timing Unofficial

Read more...

Brawn GP - Valencia - Free Practice 3

With most of the session under red flag due to Vettel' engine mishap the times are a little deformed....


Pos Driver Time Laps

1. Sutil 1:39.143 12
2. Nakajima 1:39.247 + 0.104 12
3. Kubica 1:39.513 + 0.370 12
4. Kovalainen 1:39.553 + 0.410 8
5. Rosberg 1:39.732 + 0.589 11
6. Fisichella 1:39.764 + 0.621 12
7. Button 1:39.883 + 0.740 10
8. Hamilton 1:39.950 + 0.807 12
9. Trulli 1:40.017 + 0.874 11
10. Grosjean 1:40.088 + 0.945 11
11. Buemi 1:40.118 + 0.975 12
12. Barrichello 1:40.192 + 1.049 10
13. Heidfeld 1:40.230 + 1.087 12
14. Raikkonen 1:40.260 + 1.117 12
15. Alonso 1:40.402 + 1.259 9
16. Glock 1:40.443 + 1.300 10
17. Webber 1:40.879 + 1.736 10
18. Vettel 1:40.916 + 1.773 6
19. Alguersuari 1:41.125 + 1.982 12
20. Badoer 1:42.198 + 3.055 14

All timing unofficial

Read more...

Brawn GP - Valencia - F1.com's take on the upgrades

http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2009/816/685.html

Read more...

Friday 21 August 2009

Brawn GP - Valencia - Some nice photo's for your perusal....

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...a/diapo_181.jpg

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...a/diapo_157.jpg

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...a/diapo_116.jpg

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...a/diapo_131.jpg

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...a/diapo_151.jpg

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...a/diapo_193.jpg

Read more...

Valencia - Free Practice 2

A very impressive practice session for Jenson and Rubens once again with a 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Alonso once again putting the Renault in 1st with a car running on fumes after punting Nick Heidfeld off the circuit in a previous incident.




Pos Driver Time Laps

1. Alonso 1:39.404 33
2. Button 1:40.178 +0.774 33
3. Barrichello 1:40.209 +0.805 34

4. Rosberg 1:40.385 +0.981 39
5. Nakajima 1:40.503 +1.099 35
6. Sutil 1:40.596 +1.192 23
7. Kubica 1:40.643 +1.239 34
8. Fisichella 1:40.681 +1.277 31
9. Vettel 1:40.723 +1.319 33
10. Kovalainen 1:40.738 +1.334 31
11. Raikkonen 1:40.739 +1.335 39
12. Trulli 1:40.770 +1.366 32
13. Grosjean 1:40.787 +1.383 35
14. Webber 1:40.956 +1.552 37
15. Glock 1:40.985 +1.581 30
16. Buemi 1:41.156 +1.752 34
17. Heidfeld 1:41.350 +1.946 29
18. Badoer 1:42.017 +2.613 37
19. Alguersuari 1:42.089 +2.685 34
20. Hamilton 1:43.214 +3.810 3

All timing unofficial



And another picture of the new airflow conditioner courtesy of http://www.f1-live.com/



Read more...

Valencia - Free Practice 1

Good morning BGP fans it seems like an eternity since the last race but now it's here upon us. Free Practice 1 as usual for a street circuit was very dusty so we really only saw the boys performing towards the latter stage of Practice. They were working hard with different setups to see what has been the problem over the last few races. Jenson switching front wings at least 3 times at my count. Pace seemed ok but as usual we don't the fuel loads being tested with and also the relativity to the rivals. The biggest stand out upgrade to me was the addition of air flow conditioners to the side of the sidepods like that we have seen on virtually every other car so far this season. As soon as some pictures are available I'll post them up for comparison.
Towards the end of the session Rubens had some issues with his gearbox and not being able to select neutral. Lets hope its electrical and not going to be a change.



Pos Driver Time Laps

1. Barrichello 1:42.460 19
2. Kovalainen 1:42.636 +0.176 16
3. Hamilton 1:42.654 +0.194 18
4. Button 1:43.074 +0.614 19
5. Vettel 1:43.088 +0.628 17
6. Sutil 1:43.209 +0.749 13
7. Nakajima 1:43.225 +0.765 25
8. Webber 1:43.243 +0.783 19
9. Alonso 1:43.345 +0.885 18
10. Raikkonen 1:43.384 +0.924 23
11. Buemi 1:43.389 +0.929 30
12. Kubica 1:43.419 +0.959 20
13. Alguersuari 1:43.637 +1.177 30
14. Rosberg 1:43.746 +1.286 22
15. Heidfeld 1:44.040 +1.580 23
16. Fisichella 1:44.126 +1.666 17
17. Grosjean 1:44.356 +1.896 23
18. Trulli 1:44.638 +2.178 26
19. Glock 1:44.732 +2.272 28
20. Badoer 1:45.840 +3.380 25

All timing unofficial



Just picked up this picture


See http://www.sutton-images.co.uk/ to purchase a copy or http://f1.gpupdate.net/ for the main image above

Read more...

Valencia - Jenson believes a solution could have been found

"Well, after the break and after the two weeks when they couldn't work at the factory, they spent a few days to work on the car and come up with some ideas," said Button ahead of this weekend's European Grand Prix.

"Then I spoke to my engineer 'Shov' (Andy Shovlin) last Monday, and we ran through everything and what we had for this circuit aerodynamically in terms of improvements. And also the step by step over the season in terms of where we have gone with the car mechanically – the ride, the weight distribution and the rest of the mechanical set-up.

"We ran through everything, and saw a bit of a trend, so we think we know some of the reasons for our issues with tyre temperature. Normally, going in the direction that we have gone is the preferred route because you are looking after the tyres, but with the way the tyres are you need to be aggressive with them. You need to get them to work and you need to get them into their working range – otherwise the aerodynamic improvements you have on the car mean nothing because the four tyres are the things that are on the road and if you cannot get them working then nothing else really matters."

He added: "We know getting the tyres to work is important, so we come here this weekend positive, as we should be, and we are going to test a few things that we had on the car in the earlier races, do some comparisons between both cars and on both cars, and we will see how it goes.

"By the end of tomorrow we might put our hands up and go, we really do not know why we still cannot get the tyres working, but I am positive that we know the reasons and we can get the car back to where it was. It is not we can improve the car, it is understanding the issues and getting the car back to where it was three races ago where the car felt good – and then you can see the improvements that you have made with the car.

"So it is a strange situation, but even if the track is cool here this weekend I am hoping and I really feel that we can get this car working and get the tyres working – but we will not know until after tomorrow. It all sounds great in the engineering office, and I believe them that this is the direction we need to take, but we will see tomorrow."

Button declined, however, to reveal what area the team has focused on to help its tyre issues though.

"I think it's better for us to leave it as it is at the moment and just get on with the weekend. After the weekend we might tell you."

Source: www.autosport.com

Read more...

Thursday 20 August 2009

Photo from Rubens

Picked this up from Rubens twitter account, it's a great shot of the BGP001 from the rear from inside the garage.


Read more...

Saturday 15 August 2009

The perfect loan car?

Well for a Brawn GP fan anyway......

http://confuseadog.com/2009/08/12/brawn-and-brain/

Read more...

Tuesday 11 August 2009

James Allen on BGP

James Allen has added a new blog post in regards to the performance deficit that the team are now seeing:

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2009/08/no-quick-fix-for-brawns-car-woes/

Read more...

Live Traffic Feed

I would just like to thanks Adam Guppy for the new banner we have been using for the past few days.

Should anyone else have any contributions towards the site please contact me via the KontactR form.

About Me

I have been an F1 fan from a very early age, however in my very early years I didn't really support a team just loved the racing. Since the BAR years I have been supporting this team through it's highs and lows. I'm confident under Ross Brawn's control the team will go from strength to strength and hopefully Jenson and Rubens can find themselves in a competitive car once more.

Stats

  © Blogger templates ProBlogger Template by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP