Ron Dennis didn’t want Mercedes to supply Brawn GP with engines for debut F1 season

Follow us on Google Discover

Brawn GP made history by winning both F1 world championships in their debut season in 2009. But it did come with complications, as Ron Dennis was opposed to them having Mercedes engines.

After Honda shockingly pulled out of F1 at the end of 2008, Ross Brawn and Nick Fry stepped in to buy the team for £1, creating Brawn GP. They had an almost impossible task, having to cut half the workforce and start from scratch.

Bruno Senna almost signed with Brawn for 2009, but the team opted to retain Honda duo Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The next issue was that of the power unit, and that brought about issues with their rivals.

Ron Dennis was against Mercedes supplying Brawn GP with engines in 2009

As Fry explained on the High Performance Podcast, Ferrari and Mercedes were happy to sell engines to Brawn, with the latter being eventually chosen. However, that brought about a problem with the then-works team, McLaren.

The Woking outfit had won the title with Lewis Hamilton in 2008, and Dennis was not in favour of Mercedes giving engines to ‘the enemy’ in Brawn. Martin Whitmarsh, then-McLaren team principal, was more supportive, and was ultimately key in the deal being agreed.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Mercedes F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Fry explained the situation: “God bless them, both Ferrari and Mercedes said, ‘Look, we will sell you an engine.’ They were not going to give us an engine, they sold us the engine

“Luca de Montezemolo and Ross and I met, Brown’s Hotel around the corner from here, and Luca said ‘Look, you’re good guys, if you want to buy our engine, you can.’

“Mercedes, Norbert Haug, said exactly the same. That had a problem; McLaren had to agree because they were the works team. God bless him. Martin Whitmarsh, who was the managing director at the time, was very pro. Ron Dennis less so.

“I think Ron was quite right in that it was giving the engine to the enemy and in the end, we not only got the engine, we got the driver and we got the backing of Mercedes.”

Which F1 car would you love to take for a spin at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed?

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Brawn would go on to achieve the impossible, winning the drivers’ and constructors’ championships with Button. The team would then sell the team to Mercedes in 2010, and they went on to dominate the turbo-hybrid era.

Button says his 2009 Brawn was not his best car, but it led him to achieve a feat that he did not repeat in his seven-year stint with McLaren between 2010 and 2016.