Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story documentary review

The 2009 Formula 1 season might have felt like a blockbuster unfolding before your eyes and it has now been given the cinematic treatment it deserves in a new Disney documentary, Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story.

The four-part series – which is available on the Disney+ streaming service  – is narrated by Keanu Reeves and features masses of unseen archive material plus over 45 interviews with the great, less good and unsung of F1.

But, does that all-star cast featuring Jenson Button, Ross Brawn himself, Bernie Ecclestone and many more, tell us anything new?

Where it excels is by looking beyond the big cheeses, adding to the story via the everyday people working in the factory. We hear from fuel man Gary Holland, flown in each weekend between running his plumbing business following some disastrous pitstops in Melbourne, as well as mechanic Mike Deane, but perhaps the most significant appearance comes from the person behind the double diffuser themselves: aerodynamicist Masayuki Minagawa. Sadly, he only gets the briefest of cameos. This is in addition to many more well-known Brackley figures such as James Vowles, Andrew Shovlin and Jock Clear.

It explains the bigger picture too: Reeves and co artfully depict the politics of how Ecclestone failed to turn Brawn into a political pawn when its namesake team principal as well as CEO Nick Fry managed to turn the tables on the then-F1 rights holder. This is Drive to Survive for grown-ups.

The final episode opens with an intriguing examination of whether Button really had ‘it’ in performance terms. Brawn confesses he wasn’t sure the ‘Frome Flyer’ was up to a title challenge when he first met him. However, with Button clinging on to first place in the title race by his fingertips, it all climaxes at Interlagos, the culmination of which is one of the world championship’s most incredible stories.

The series carries a depth comparable with many other leading sport documentaries, and has a personal touch through so many rich
and insightful interviews – it feels less contrived than Drive to Survive, but far more balanced than Schumacher or Bernie Ecclestone’s Lucky!.

In a pleasing way, the film-makers have perhaps failed in their objective. They were looking to create a mass-appeal product but a series which features so much detail over four hour-long episodes has turned it into something different: a proper F1 documentary.

It’s well worth the time of both die-hards and the open-minded sport fan.

Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story
Available now
Disney+

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