While F1 racing has paused for April, teams have still been working flat-out at their factories to get ready for the resumption of the season in Miami next weekend, and cars have still been appearing on track to help tyre suppliers Pirelli prepare for upcoming campaigns.<\/p>\n
And, midway through the five-week gap, there was a treat for fans when the Brawn GP<\/a> band \u2013 who pulled off one of the biggest shocks in F1 history by winning both world titles in that sole 2009 season \u2013 got back together at the Goodwood Members\u2019 Meeting.<\/p>\n Button and Brawn return to the track<\/p>\n Watched by thousands trackside at the famous English venue, and plenty more online around the world, Jenson Button<\/a> went for a trip down memory lane by adding a few more celebratory miles to the clock of a car that helped him realise his childhood dream.<\/p>\n Among the crowd of observers was the man who worked tirelessly to put everything in place after Honda\u2019s withdrawal from the sport at the end of 2008, and ensured \u2018Team Brackley\u2019 could race on under a new guise \u2013 team boss Ross Brawn<\/a>.<\/p>\n When Brawn made his way back to Goodwood\u2019s temporary paddock, F1.com grabbed a few minutes of his time \u2013 flanked by passionate fans young and old \u2013 to discuss the past, present and future of an F1 story that keeps on giving.<\/p>\n \u201cThings are obviously very different to what they were back then, but it\u2019s still lovely to see the car run, and very special when Jenson\u2019s driving it,\u201d says Brawn, while perched on the rear wheel of the car Button has just completed laps in \u2013 with some 17 years passing since the team raced.<\/p>\n \u201cI think in some ways the memories come flooding back to Jenson much more than they do me. He mentioned that on the first lap he was just getting used to everything, and suddenly on the second lap everything slotted into place, and he remembered the car intimately.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the relationship a driver has with a car is something that\u2019s special to them, and obviously as an engineer or a manager, or what have you, I sort of look at it from a distance, so there\u2019s a huge emotion for this car, but it\u2019s more the team, the events and the story that were so special.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s lovely to get it out again, and it\u2019s lovely to see the passion of all these people who love to see it go around the track.\u201d<\/p>\n All three Brawn GP 001 chassis were on show together for the first time at the Goodwood Members\u2019 Meeting, while the car Button drove is owned by Brawn himself \u2013 begging the question of how he feels whenever its throttle is pinned\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I trust Jenson!\u201d Brawn says with a chuckle. \u201cHe didn\u2019t crash very often when he was racing, so I trust him to be sensible, but you can never take the competitiveness out of a racing driver.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was asking what the track record was before he went out, so whether he was just trying to tease us or he was serious, I don\u2019t know\u2026 That\u2019s why they are what they are, and that\u2019s their sole focus \u2013 how to go faster!\u201d<\/p>\n Button himself described a \u201cvery emotional\u201d experience at the wheel, having last driven the car in 2019 to mark 10 years since his title triumph \u2013 sealed on a rollercoaster weekend at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was pretty awesome going out,\u201d he told Goodwood\u2019s TV crew. \u201cI\u2019ve only ever driven historics around here, so getting out in an F1 car was a little bit of a shock initially. But it feels so natural \u2013 it feels so much more natural than anything I drive here.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s insane how quick these things are. You forget. I don\u2019t know what speed we were on the back straight, but it was quick! It was a wonderful opportunity for me. This is my life. Having Ross be that kind to let me drive his car again is amazing.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many good memories that season that it\u2019s hard to forget, and I\u2019m definitely not allowed to forget with being able to drive this.\u201d<\/p>\n Brawn GP\u2019s ongoing F1 operation<\/p>\n While Button made everything look smooth out on track in his trademark style, there are plenty of moving parts that need to come together behind the scenes to reach that point \u2013 the process resembling a mini F1 outfit.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have quite a team,\u201d Brawn admits. \u201cIt still takes seven or eight people just to run it at a place like here, so it\u2019s quite an operation, and it\u2019s primarily organised and run by Frazer Deane and his preparation business, Deane Performance.<\/p>\n