Brawn GP revs up

Brawn GP will reach the starting grid at Formula One's season-opening race this month after Ross Brawn bought out his former Honda team.

Brawn said the current management would stay on as the team heads into the Australian Grand Prix on March 29, with only seven testing days left to get the car up to speed.

"The biggest hurdle we faced was being in a position to race in Melbourne and we will now be able to achieve that target," Brawn said in a statement.

Brawn takes over the former Honda F1 team after the Japanese auto manufacturer pulled out of the sport in December due to the high cost of competition. Honda ran a budget in excess of £200 million (BD106 million).

Brawn GP has already completed a shakedown of the new BGP 001 car at Silverstone and tested again at Barcelona and Jerez from Sunday to Tuesday. The team will not be able to test the car beyond Melbourne after F1 banned in-season testing in a bid to cut costs.

The team continued to design its new car throughout the management buy-out talks, with a new partnership to use McLaren Mercedes engines requiring extra modifications to the car, which has a basic black and white color scheme with a splash of yellow.

Brawn said the first test at the Catalunya Circuit was an 'emotional moment for everyone in the team'.

"We may experience some reliability issues resulting from the lack of track testing but we feel we have a good car and we hope that our performance will be respectable," the former Ferrari technical director said.

"We are confident in the fundamental design principle of our car and look forward to the opportunity to develop it further as the season progresses.

"We obviously have a significant test programme to work through and this will require our full focus."

Brawn GP's drivers will be Jenson Button and Rubens Barichello, who will be together for the fourth straight season. He did not elaborate on plans for the team's staff of 700. Closing the team down had always been a last resort.

"There is no denying this has been a difficult time for everyone at our Brackley base, but I am immensely proud of the great spirit and fortitude that I have witnessed in the factory over the course of the past few months," Brawn said.