Gary Anderson: Brawn key to Mercedes success

It had been clear that Mercedes would win the constructors' championship for months, with Red Bull's four-year reign finally coming to an end at the Russian Grand Prix.

But it's not all been plain sailing for that team down Brackley way, which has had a chequered past of ups and downs, and many owners.

When it entered Formula 1 in 1999 as British American Racing (BAR), I remember technical guru Adrian Reynard saying that they intended to be on pole for their first race.

But the team got a rude awakening. There are many people who think F1 is easy, but I can assure you they all get that wake-up call pretty quickly!

Results in 1999 were few and far between, with no points scored. There were only nine race finishes, the highest being eighth places for Jacques Villeneuve at Monza and Ricardo Zonta at the European GP.

Progress was made in 2000 thanks to the arrival of the Honda engine to replace the Supertec used the year before.

BAR scored 20 points that year, mostly through Villeneuve's four fourth places, and in 2001 he managed to take the team's first podium finishes in Spain and Germany, supported by new team-mate Olivier Panis, with 17 points scored.

BAR had a tough spell in Formula 1 © LAT

The evolution continued, with Jenson Button joining Villeneuve in 2003 and outperforming his world champion team-mate, with two fourth places. The team's points tally again improved, with 26 points.

But 2004 seemed to be a breakthrough year, with undisputed team leader Button and Honda hero Takuma Sato claiming 11 podium finishes and 119 points between them. That was good enough for second in the constructors' championship, albeit well behind dominant Ferrari.

That success wasn't built on, with only two podiums in 2005, a points tally of 38 and political problems as the team was given a two-race ban for running underweight. But things were changing: in late 2004 Honda had taken a 45 per cent stake.

Honda wanted more involvement in the direction the team was taking, and the only way to do this was through ownership.

In the short-term, things went well. Button won the restructured team's first grand prix in Hungary in 2006. The points tally he and Rubens Barrichello scored was 86 and with the duck broken, a team that had lost its way seemed to be on the right path.

With Honda's budget, the sky was the limit.

But 2007 was a disaster. Jenson and Rubens scored only six points with a terrible car. Honda knew things were going badly wrong, and made the decision that ultimately laid the foundations for the success the team has had as Mercedes this year: it hired Ross Brawn.

Ross is someone that knows what it takes to win. He masterminded all of Michael Schumacher's seven world championships and, more importantly, had restructured Ferrari to turn it into a consistent winner.

It's telling that Ferrari has only taken a single title, the constructors' in 2008, since he left.

Honda left F1 before Brawn's project started to pay off © LAT

But could Brawn achieve the same for Honda? He was given carte blanche to do things the way he wanted to, and immediately recognised that 2008 should be written off and the focus directed to the new regulations for 2009. That was a realistic target.

A total of 14 points in 2008 should have been nothing more than the inevitable result of a season sacrificed to concentrated on hitting the front the following year. But amid economic crisis, Honda ran back to Japan with its tail between its legs.

The lack of performance and the financial situation made it easy to shut down the team. Honda just wanted to get out quickly. So it more or less gave the team to Brawn and the other directors, along with a cheque to allow it to carry on in 2009. Honda saw this as a cheap escape strategy.

Brawn had been restructuring the team and designing and developing the 2009 car, and when he got the call from Japan that Honda was out, it was a complete shock. But there was a realisation of how good the car could be, and a determination to continue.

When the car first ran, long after everyone else had hit the track, it surprised the world - including Brawn and Button. It did exactly what Jenson needed from a car, and now with a Mercedes engine he had the package to win the world championship.

But it was not all plain sailing. While the results were good enough to win both titles, the future was uncertain and cutbacks had to be made. Staffing was dramatically reduced and spending lowered; it was a question of getting what they could out of the 2009 car and just surviving.

The turnaround was dramatic.

Honda/Brawn 2007-2009
2007: 0 podiums, 0 wins, 6 points = 2 per cent of available points
2008: 1 podium, 0 wins, 14 points = 4 per cent of available points
2009: 15 podiums, 8 wins, 172 points = 56 per cent of available points

Brawn was the team to beat in 2009 © LAT

How Honda must have wished it had stayed involved...

But, in reality, the switch to Mercedes power played a big part in this success. Honda always believed it had the best 2.4-litre V8 engine, but this simply wasn't the case.

It's not always about having the most power, and there are many other contributing factors to a good engine package. Had the 2009 Brawn-Mercedes been a Honda, it would have been competitive, but it's not certain it would have been strong enough to win the title.

In the background, Brawn and the team's co-owners were working on a deal to sell to Mercedes. The idea was that it would be an efficient, turn-key, championship-winning operation. With Michael Schumacher coming out of retirement and Nico Rosberg signed, talk was of winning another title.

But the knock-on effect of the cutbacks in 2009 was immediately evident. It would take time to recover from the damage done by Honda's withdrawal.

Mercedes had a solid, but far from great, team. And finding the right people to work together is not a five-minute job. Recovery would take time.

The first two years of the new Mercedes team were unsuccessful, with just three podiums in 2010 and none in 2011. But in 2012 the signs of recovery were there, with Rosberg winning the Chinese GP.

Mercedes 2010-2012
2010: 3 podiums, 0 wins, 214 points = 26 per cent of available points (new system)
2011: 0 podiums, 0 wins, 165 points = 20 per cent of available points
2012: 3 podiums, 1 win, 142 points = 17 per cent of available points

Then the turnaround began. Schumacher retired and Lewis Hamilton joined alongside Rosberg. The team was starting to find its feet.

The car's pace was impressive, particularly in the first half of the season. Without the serious problems with rear-tyre degradation compared to other teams, Mercedes would have won a lot more races and scored far more points.

Brawn left the team at the end of the season, but in reality his work was done. Recruiting experienced and high-quality personnel such as Aldo Costa, Geoff Willis and Bob Bell and creating a structure that made the best use of the increased resources Mercedes was putting in was key to the success we've seen in 2014.

Difficult 2010 and 2011 seasons were followed by the start of a recovery © LAT

That, along with the great job done at Brixworth on the new hybrid power unit - which is not only the best in the field but also very well integrated with the chassis - adds up to a team that has only been defeated when it has beaten itself.

The management is now different, with Paddy Lowe alongside Toto Wolff at the top of the team. It's not better, not worse, just different. And based on what we've seen so far, you have to give them credit for the way things have gone since Brawn left.

As Ross got the structure working the way he wanted, then this should continue until someone decides they need to change or, more likely, simply wants to make their presence felt...

Mercedes 2013-2014
2013: 9 podiums, 3 wins, 360 points = 44 per cent of available points
2014: 26 podiums, 13 wins (nine one-twos), 565 points = 82 per cent of available points

The question is, can Mercedes avoid the rollercoaster ride that has affected the Brackley-based team since its creation?

Looking at its performance in 2014, there's no doubt it should go into 2015 in very competitive shape. But it will also be the year where we discover whether the team has what it takes to progress without someone as effective as Brawn at the helm.

Red Bull has set the bar high with four constructors' championships in a row. Mercedes needs to do the same - or even better - to be judged a real success. This should not just be a flash in the pan.

Being competitive is not only about how well you do something, it's also about how good or bad others do it.

The 2014 Red Bull-Renault package hasn't worked anything like it has over the last few years, but Mercedes can't count on it being an underdog for long.

And with Ferrari working hard to raise its game - not to mention customer team Williams snapping at its heels and the arrival of McLaren-Honda - there is potential for far stiffer competition.

Were Brawn still in charge, he would be working away, planning and improving the team to ensure its success continues in the long-term, and that's exactly what you would hope the management is doing now.

As Red Bull has learned, nothing is forever in F1 and every year you need to keep justifying your place at the front.