Brazilian Grand Prix 2009 - Brawn GP win the Championship
We knew it was in our hands, Barrichello started his home race on Pole Position, Jenson and Vettel down around 15th I think. Red Bull had to get 1-2 in order for it to go to the last race in Abu Dhabi, surely this was our moment.
The race started well with Rubens holding off a charging Webber, Jenson had the race of his life and stormed up the field overtaking cars with such ease, I don't remember much of the middle race, just an incident at the end when Rubens who was also still in with a chance of the Championship started to fall backwards, the disappointment in the garage, we all wanted Rubens to finally win his home race, then in an altercation with Hamilton, Rubens suffered a puncture and had to pit, this confirmed he was not even getting a podium finish, after the pit stop the whole garage was downbeat and miserable, and 4 laps from the end it didn't really click what we were about to achieve.
The final laps were like a full race distance, we woke up and realised that both Championships were about to be ours, we had forgot that Jenson had the drive of his life and due to Rubens stop, had now moved into the position needed to take the World Drivers Championship, Vettel was out of the running, we had won both, just needed to get to the end.....
The final lap and the next 2 hours were sensational, what we had achieved in 12 months since Honda pulled out was a fairy tale, stuff you would expect to see in a Hollywood movie. But we can't forget those who had lost their jobs post-Honda, those people who still put 100% in back at Brackley knowing they wouldn't be part of the team. This was also their Championship.
Paul Harris
Chief Garage Technician for Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
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Memory added on December 19, 2012
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