Former Mercedes director opens up on secrets behind the instant success of Brawn GP in 2009

Former Mercedes head of strategy James Vowles has said that Brawn GP had started working on their revolutionary double diffuser in 2008 that reflected in their 2009 season success.

The team led by Ross Brawn surprised everyone by winning both driver's and constructor's championships in 2009. The invention of the double diffuser was one of the biggest reasons for their dominant start to the season.

While appearing on the Beyond the Grid podcast, the former Mercedes director said:

"But in 2009, the brilliance behind it was that all the work was done in 2008 and 2007 to a certain extent. But 08, especially, was the sacrificial year. We always knew 08' would be a struggle and it was. We were pretty poor in 08', not great 07' even for that matter.

"Because the focus was on running three wind tunnels in different countries to produce the next year's car, the 2009 car. So what you have to do is get everyone aligned with the vision that it's not about now, you have to give up on now. It's about what's next year or the year after."

James Vowles speaks about Michael Schumacher's Mercedes stint

The Williams F1 Team Principal also stated that despite not winning races when he returned to Mercedes in 2010, Michael Schumacher had an aura within the team.

Speaking on the Sky Sports podcast, Vowles said:

"Michael was this incredible individual. He had an aura and a presence with him as well, completely different from what you see externally. Within the team, he was there to help us, help the team move forward.

"He brought the team close together. He knew everyone's birthdays, sent flowers to respective partners and really looked after individuals in a great way.

"What it meant is the team were really pushing for him to be successful and that wasn't through any other mechanism than him being himself.

"He also knew his performance was perhaps not quite at the same level, but he made up for it in terms of the amount of work and dedication he put in. From that, Nico learned a lot and conversely, Lewis learned a lot from Nico."

Schumacher's time with Mercedes was filled with unfulfilled potential and mistakes on the German's part. But he did show glimpses of his greatness when he finished P3 at the 2012 European GP in Valencia and also notched a surprise pole position at the Monaco GP that same year.