Photo: GETTY IMAGES
On Sunday night, the same Brackley-based team were celebrating not only Jenson Button's world drivers' title but the constructors' crown as well, a phenomenal achievement given the fact that Ross Brawn did not effect his management buy-out until March and the team lost 350 of their staff over the winter.
Button, who took a voluntary 50 per cent pay cut to stay at the team, paid tribute earlier this week to the actors and extras in what he labelled "a Hollywood movie".
"It wasn't just whether they could compete in F1, it was whether they had a job that could pay for their kids' school and what have you," Button said. "But in the end, we got the deal done and we were able to go racing. I think when everyone saw the car drive for the first time in Barcelona they were very surprised."
That is quite an understatement. The BGP001 blew its rivals completely out of the water on its first official outing in March. Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton was about three seconds a lap slower in his McLaren, which had been testing for weeks.
How did Brawn do it? Well, despite its late arrival on the scene the BGP001 was still one of the most expensive cars ever built.
When Brawn arrived at Honda from Ferrari in December 2007 he realised that the 2008 car was already too far gone and instead concentrated his energies on the 2009 model. By the time it hit the track it was the product of well over a year's careful planning and countless millions of Honda dollars.
It also had a shiny new Mercedes-Benz beneath its white and fluorescent yellow chassis, which was estimated to be giving it around 60 brake horse power more than its old Honda engine.
Nothing, though, gave the BGP001 such an advantage as its controversial 'double-decker diffuser' – a radical interpretation of new aerodynamic rules – which prompted a raft of protests from the other teams and an FIA inquiry. By the time it was declared legal in mid-April, and the rest of the teams got down to developing their own versions of the same idea, Button was well on his way to the title.
The irony is, though, that Brawn's achievements this year are likely to be a one-off. With Mercedes due to be taking a controlling interest, it is likely to be renamed by next spring. Still, you can't say they didn't make their time in the sun count.
Red Bull driver Mark Webber won the FIA Formula One 2009 Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil Saturday at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo, Brazil. 

Interlagos (Autódromo José Carlos Pace)
Robert Kubica came in second for BMW Sauber, and Lewis Hamilton finished third for McLaren.

Webber's teammate Sebastian Vettel started from 15th place on the starting grid after he couldn't come up from the first qualification session, but finished 4th in front of his championship rival.

Brawn Grand Prix driver Jenson Button finished 5th to win his title. His team, representing the remnants of Honda Racing, also won the 2009 Constructors' championship after leading through the season.

The team's road to victory was not smooth — a scandal broke with the "double-decker diffuser" of the BGP001 car.  After the FIA declared them legal and other teams started to borrow the idea, Brawn sped up by collecting points on the way to the title.

Brawn GP, the winning constructor
Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) and Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) dropped one place from the starting grid and finished behind Button.

Button's teammate and possible vice-champion Rubens Barrichello, who won pole position on his home soil after nearly three hours of a long rainy qualification session, had a tire puncture on the dying laps of the race and was forced to make an unscheduled third visit to his pit. He closed in the top eight.

This Brazil GP featured Japanese rookie driver, Kamui Kobayashi (Toyota), who replaced recovering Glock. In his first race this young driver qualified 11th and finished 10th in the race.

Adrian Sutil qualified 3rd for Force India, but was taken out by Jarno Trulli (Toyota) on the first lap.