FORMULA 1: Brawn GP are no more after Mercedes buy-out

9 months ago, this was a team on their knees after the withdrawal of Honda, that was until Ross Brawn led a management buyout and transformed the team into world champions overnight, and now to complete the fairytale, they have now been bought out by one of the greatest names in the sport, Mercedes, who after this buyout will make a return as an F1 constructor for the first time in 55 years. In addition, they have all but confirmed Nico Rosberg as one of their drivers for 2010 with Nick Heidfeld favourite to land the 2nd seat if a deal with Jenson Button cannot be agreed.

Despite their long absence as a constructor, they have a tremendous racing pedigree. In the 1930, they famously battld with German rivals Auto Union (Audi) for Grand Prix supremacy under the eyes of a proud Adolf Hitler who used the success of both manufacturers to portray Nazi Germany as a world superpower. But then the war came, and it was'nt until 1954 that Mercedes returned as a constructor and won the world championship 2 years on the trot in 1954 and 55, both thanks to the legenday Juan Manuel Fangio. But the tragic accident at Le Mans in 1955 that killed driver Pierre Levegh and over 80 spectators caused Alfred Neubauer (the Mercedes team boss) to pull out. After flirting with Le Mans in the late 1980's with Peter Sauber's sportscar operation, they decided to return in 1993 as an engine supplier supporting Sauber's foray into F1, after which they switched allegiance to McLaren in 1995 and never looked back, the partnership with the Woking team delivering 60 Grand Prix wins, 3 drivers world championships (1998,1999, 2008) and 1 constructors title (1998).

But why now, why jump ship and become an entrant rather than a supplier? Well it has been an ambition of theirs for a long time, ever since they powered McLaren to both championships in 1998, they held a 40% shareholding in the McLaren Group and long wanted to increase that shareholding to a majority and therefore attempt a full takeover. McLaren though had long resisted Mercedes's desires and with plans of their own to enter the commerical sportscar market in 2011, it made sense for McLaren and Mercedes to go their separate ways, especially with Brawn GP trouncing them with customer Merc engines in 2009 and their availability was too much of a temptation for Mercedes to reisist, in return, Mercedes will sell back their 40% stake to the McLaren Group and Ron Dennis and give them a contract of a free engine supply for the next 6 years.

The biggest winner out of all of this though has to be Ross Brawn, in 9 months, he has earned a huge return on his investment 9 months ago, a gamble that has paid off hugely, plus the very fabric of Brawn GP will remain, the only difference being the cars pained silver and Norbert Haug taking a place alongside Ross Brawn and Nick Fry on the pit wall.

But what about Jenson Button, suddenly it looks like the new world champion has been left out in the wilderness without a drive if Mercedes continue their drive for an all German lineup. Apparently he is still in negotiations with Mercedes but Haug is seemingly unwilling to give in to Button's financial demands. Something a certain team down the road from the old Brawn factory in Brackley can comfortably offer him, that being of couse McLaren. And with rumours of Button visiting the McLaren factory over the weekend, put 2 and 2 together and you get the mouth-watering prospect of an all British dream team of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.