Alpine managing director Steve Nielsen believes that, while not impossible for a Brawn-esque surprise package to emerge in the F1 2026 season, “the trick that gets you there is well known.”
Brawn, when racing as Honda in 2008, opted to forgo a season’s worth of development to put all its weight behind the regulation changes of 2009 – and even though the team scraped its way onto the grid after Honda’s departure, it began the year as the class of the field.
Could a Brawn 2009 happen in F1 2026? Alpine responds
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Formula 1 is heading towards another regulation reset in 2026, with both chassis and power unit rules resetting at the same time in what will be an enormous change for the sport.
All-new chassis were also brought into play in 2009, with Honda’s factory team morphing into what became Brawn GP for 2009, and subsequently Mercedes a year later.
That season, with so much development and innovation already completed on the car by the time others had switched focus, Brawn began the year at the front of the field, while the same team, as Honda, finished ninth in the Constructors’ standings.
Jenson Button won six of the first seven races in 2009 and, despite being reeled in by the likes of Red Bull and McLaren as the season progressed, Brawn and Button held on to win a championship double in its only season on the grid.
The 2026 season represents a similar chance for teams to re-establish themselves in the Formula 1 pecking order, with work having been underway on each new car since the early part of 2025 – a mandate even preventing work from beginning on 2026 cars before the last New Year’s Day, to avoid similar scenarios of a large headstart.
Nielsen, though, feels a repeat of Brawn’s feat may remain a one-off, especially as teams have become wise to the tactics they deployed at the time.
Asked if a repeat was possible by PlanetF1.com and other media in Abu Dhabi, Nielsen replied: “I think when Brawn did that in 2009, it was relatively… not unknown, but it was unusual for people to do.
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“Brawn [as Honda] took the hit for a whole year, [then] put a car on the track that was one year ahead of most.
“People were switching over, in those days, at the end of the summer, so they genuinely had six months’ [headstart]. That was so visibly the thing to do at that time. We all know the trick now.
“It’s all been thrust in our face that that’s… although we’ve swapped over very early, others have also done similar – I think probably after us, but nonetheless, early.
“I don’t think anybody’s developed their car right up to today, unless they’re fighting for the championship.
“So is that possible? I suppose it is, but the trick that gets you there is well known.”
The first pre-season shakedown test begins on 26 January at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Alpine set to unveil the A526 three days beforehand.
Additional reporting by Mat Coch and Thomas Maher
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