Ross Brawn has confirmed his buyout of the former Honda Racing team ahead of the start of the 2009 season, in a move that confirms that F1 2009 will feature a "full" twenty car grid, and also sees the return of the Boobens.
Ever since Honda announced their decision to quit the sport last December, there have een any number of lengthy negotiations with potential buyers. But in the end, the bid from the former team principal was the successful one, and Ross Brawn completed the 100% buyout which will see the team rather narcissistically renamed as "Brawn GP" for the new season. The deal was confirmed in a statement late on Thursday, and it was also confirmed that the team would run with Mercedes-Benz engines for 2009, the third team on the grid to use the units. The official colours of the team are rumoured to be "yellow, black and white".
Furthermore, the statement confirmed that the team's cars would be driven by the underperforming Jenson Button and the pensionable Rubens Barrichello, with Barrichello's confirmation seeing the F1 hopes of Bruno Senna scuppered for this season at least. The confirmation also means that all 20 drivers are now secured for 2009.
Commenting smugly on the deal, Brawn remarked that "The past few months have been extremely challenging for the team but today's announcement is the very pleasing conclusion to the strenuous efforts that have been made to secure its future."
"The journey ahead will be challenging but exciting and we know we can count on their continued enthusiasm for our team and its ambitions," Brawn continued.
The new team now faces a race against time to give themselves a chance to be competitive in the new season. The new car, the BGP001, will have a shakedown at Silverstone today, and will then take part in the test at Barcelona next week and Jerez the week after before the start of the 2009 season at the end of the month.
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