Brawn: The World's Greatest Engineer?

Today was the first race of the Formula One season, and it was well worth waiting for over what always seems like a long winter. The season ends, the development and testing begins, and we anxiously await the new designs to appear. Then, the first race is upon us and we see the results of the winter's testing.

There is no way that I would have ever expected today's result.

Brawn GP - a team that almost didn't exist at all - gave us a 1-2 performance in its first Grand Prix outing . Jenson Button scored the victory, and Rubens Barrichello placed second.

What is incomprehensible in the world of Formula One is that a team rarely if ever wins at its first go-round. Add to that the fact that this was the former Honda team of years past. Honda officially left Formula One over the winter due to rising costs and a global recession making an appearance. With no further factory support, the team was purchased by a group lead by none other than Ross Brawn, the chief technical director and designer. So to win your first race out of the box when a month ago your team barely existed (and had just recently acquird their only sponsor to date: Virgin Air) - that's pretty amazing stuff.

What makes this story much easier to comprehend is that it is, in fact, Brawn leading the charge.

Brawn was involved with Michael Schumacher's glory years at both Benetton and Ferrari . He has had a long, illustrious design career. And once again, he has masterminded what is apparently a phenomenal piece of engineering wonder. 

Formula One is the home of the greatest automotive and aerospace technology in the world. Many aerospace engineers end up there because the design and development cycles are so rapid. In aerospace, a design may take years to reach fruition - in Formula One, a design needs to be refined and developed all season long, with a new design for the upcoming season beginning at least 6 to 8 months in advance. Most teams have quarter to half scale wind tunnels. They use the most advanced materials and technologies. The wait time to see design become reality is incredibly short - and with the budgets of most teams weighing in at $200 - $500 millon dollars (yes, million dollars) per year, it makes perfect sense for a bright aerospace engineer to want to go F1 racing.  

With that in mind, I have no doubt that Ross Brawn may in fact be one of the most amazing engineers on the planet. His resume is long and illustrious. And today's performance of Brawn GP leaves no doubt in my mind that he is, at very least, the foremost designer in Formula One today - and probably over the last decade.

It looks like this is going to be an intriguing season! Congratulations to Brawn GP - impressive day in Australia. Good on ya, mates!

Photo credit: Mypoorbrain