In the run-up to the start of pre-season testing Motorsport Week brings you left-field reflections and stories of teams, drivers and reserves that will be part of the Formula 1 paddock in 2019.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Brawn Grand Prix’s sole season in Formula 1, in which it rose from the ashes of Honda to pull off an extraordinary title triumph with Jenson Button.
The team, short on spare parts and lacking development, started strongly and held on to its points advantage as rivals caught up and overtook, providing Formula 1 with a script straight out of Hollywood.
Brawn GP was ultimately taken over by Mercedes for 2010 but there was one final flourish at Jerez in early December, with Formula 1 teams visiting southern Spain for a young driver test.
Brawn handed track time to erstwhile Honda tester Mike Conway and newly-crowned Japanese Formula 3 champion Marcus Ericsson.
Ericsson completed 136 laps in the Brawn BGP001 across the three days of running that he shared with Conway, as he racked up his first experience in Formula 1. When Ericsson returned to the garage late on December 3 the BGP001 was packed away marking its, and Brawn’s, final official appearance in Formula 1. The quickest driver through the course of the test was a young Red Bull junior by the name of Daniel Ricciardo. When the team re-appeared in early 2010 its Mercedes takeover had been completed, the livery had been overhauled, and the line-up was spearheaded by Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.
Ericsson eventually made it to the Formula 1 grid with Caterham in 2014 and spent four years racing for Sauber before losing his seat for 2019; he will nonetheless remain connected to the sport through a reserve and ambassadorial role with the Swiss team though his primary focus will be his IndyCar programme.
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