Jenson Button reuniting with World Championship winning Brawn GP at Goodwood Festival of Speed

Neraly two decades since Brawn GP stunned Formula 1, the title winning car is returning to the track with the man who drove it into the history books. For Button, it is a chance to reconnect with the machine that defined his career. For fans, it revives memories of a season that began in chaos and ended in one of the greatest underdog triumphs the championship has known.

Only three Brawn BGP 001 chassis were ever built, and each carries a distinct place in that extraordinary story. Chassis BGP001/02 is the most famous of the three, as it was the car Button used throughout his championship winning 2009 campaign.

Owned by Ross Brawn, it has already appeared at Goodwood and Silverstone, but its significance has not faded. It remains the defining symbol of a team that came from nowhere and beat the biggest names in the sport.

Chassis BGP001/01 was used primarily by Rubens Barrichello through the first half of the season up to and including the Hungarian Grand Prix. It later became known as the car long owned by Button before being sold to a private collector during the 2025 Miami Grand Prix weekend.

Chassis BGP001/03 entered the picture later in the year and helped Barrichello win at Monza before being used in the closing phase of the campaign. It has since been loaned to the Silverstone museum, completing the spread of the 3 cars that together tell the full Brawn GP story.

That story began on 5 December 2008 when Honda announced its withdrawal from Formula 1 amid the global financial crisis. The Japanese manufacturer placed its factory team up for sale, but no buyer emerged.

An internal rescue followed. Ross Brawn took control of the operation, the team became Brawn GP on 6 March 2009, Mercedes agreed to supply engines, and Button and Barrichello stayed on as drivers.

The new car hit the track only weeks before the season began and immediately showed startling speed, setting off alarm bells among the established frontrunners.

Brawn’s pace in testing led Ferrari, McLaren, BMW, Red Bull and Renault to challenge the legality of its double diffuser concept, which was also used by Williams and Toyota. The protests did not stop the team.

FIA stewards ruled the design legal at the Australian Grand Prix, and that decision was upheld by the FIA Court of Appeal on 14 April 2009. With that, Brawn was free to exploit the edge it had found.

The impact was immediate. At the opening race in Australia, Brawn locked out the front row with Button ahead of Barrichello. It was the first time since Tyrrell in 1970 that a team had taken pole position on its debut.

The next day, Button led home a one two finish. Only Mercedes in 1954 and Wolf in 1977 had won on debut before that.

Button followed up with another victory in Malaysia, then added wins in Bahrain, Spain, Monaco and Turkey. By that stage he had won 6 of the first 7 races and Brawn had seized control of both championships. The team’s white and yellow cars had become the story of the season, not just because they were quick, but because they had no right to exist in the first place.

The second half of 2009 became more difficult as Brawn lost momentum and Red Bull closed in. Barrichello struck back with wins in Valencia and Monza, while Button relied on consistency to protect his title lead.

That proved enough. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the season, Button sealed the Drivers’ Championship and Brawn secured the Constructors’ crown as well. In less than a year, a team rescued from collapse had become double world champion.

Mercedes quickly moved to buy into the operation, acquiring 75.1 percent of the team ahead of 2010. Brawn GP became Mercedes GP, with Michael Schumacher returning to partner Nico Rosberg. The fairytale lasted only 1 season, but its place in Formula 1 history was secure.

That is why Button’s return to the BGP 001 matters at Goodwood on 9-12 July 2026. This is not just another heritage run. It is the return of a car that represents technical daring, timing, nerve and survival, with the driver who turned it into one of Formula 1’s most enduring modern legends.