Disney+ sets release date for four-part F1 docu series on Brawn GP

The series Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story will recount the tale of Ross Brawn saving the former Honda works team after the Japanese manufacturer decided to quit F1.

It features interviews with several main protagonists, including Brawn himself, drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, technical director Nick Fry as well as Red Bull's Christian Horner, Brawn's main challenger in 2009.

Disney also promises behind the scenes footage and access to the F1 archives, "much of it previously unseen".

Hollywood star Reeves hosts the documentary and is also one of its executive producers alongside three-time BAFTA winner Neil Duncanson.

The series is produced by North One, written by showrunner Simon Hammerson and directed by Daryl Goodrich, who previously also directed the acclaimed 2017 Ferrari documentary "Ferrari: Race to Immortality".

Ross Brawn

Photo by: Disney

The four-part series will tell one of the most remarkable stories in F1 history, which was prompted by Honda's attempts to sell its works team during the 2008 season.

Unable to find a suitable buyer, the Japanese marque decided to pull the plug, with Brawn stepping in and taking over the Brackley squad for a symbolic pound.

Brawn secured a Mercedes engine supply for 2009 and while the team barely scraped by, the RA109 that Honda had already developed for 2009's new regulations proved to be a rocket ship.

Featuring an innovative double diffuser design, the bare-liveried, rebranded Brawn GP BGP001 shot straight to the top of the timesheets once it finally showed up in winter testing.

Button and Barrichello comfortably secured a front row lockout and 1-2 victory in the opening race in Melbourne, with Button going on to win six out of the first seven races to lay the foundation to an unlikely world championship run, which he sealed in Brazil.

Mercedes ended up buying the team in November 2009 and re-entered as a works team in 2010, putting in the groundwork for a remarkable run of eight consecutive constructors' titles as well as seven drivers' titles with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

All episodes of “Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story” will be available on Disney+ and available to stream on Hulu in the US from 15 November 2023.

Keanu Reeves, Jenson Button

Photo by: Disney