Buy This Brawn GP Car And Relive *That* F1 Season

Remember Brawn GP? If not, you should probably refresh your memory by watching the excellent Keanu Reeves-fronted documentary on the team, but let’s face it – if you’re into F1 and you’re above the age of a barely-developed foetus, you probably do.

The team rose from the ashes of Honda’s factory effort after it pulled out of the sport at the end of 2008, having been personally bought out by the team’s boss, Ross Brawn. It turned up at the start of the 2009 season with a car – the BGP 001 – hastily developed from Honda’s half-finished car and an ace up its sleeve – a ‘blown diffuser’ that exploited a loophole in the aero regulations and turned the car into an absolute monster.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barichello promptly claimed the most unexpected 1-2 in F1 history at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. While other teams would catch up as the season wore on, it wasn’t enough to stop Brawn, in its first and only season in existence, claiming both the constructors’ championship and a drivers’ title for Button.

The team was then promptly sold to engine supplier Mercedes, setting the stage for one of the most dominant streaks in F1 history. It’s the sort of fairytale that happens once in a generation in any given sport, and now one of three BGP 001 chassis run by Brawn in that magical season is up for sale.

Specifically, it’s the first chassis built, 001/01, and was gifted to Jenson Button at the conclusion of the season, part of a clause in his contract that stated that if he won a championship, he’d get an example of the car he won it with.

It’s not the car he won the title with – that’s chassis 02, which belongs to Ross Brawn himself. Chassis 03, meanwhile, is part of Mercedes’ collection. This one, though, was driven by Barichello for the early part of the season, including for that unprecedented 1-2 in Australia.

After Button cleared out his collection last year, the chassis is now heading to auction at Bonhams’ Miami Grand Prix sale on 3 May. There’s no mention of any internals, and more often than not, significant old F1 cars like this are offered as little more than an empty chassis. Even if that’s the case, though, we suspect it’s going to go for a fairly healthy sum.