Why Ross Brawn ranks controversial Benetton B194 among favourite F1 cars

Ahead of F1’s 2026 technical reset, arguably the biggest in the sport’s history, Ross Brawn has tagged his own Brawn GP 001, with its innovative double-diffuser, as one of his ‘favourite car designs’ in Formula 1.

But so too is the “extremely controversial” Benetton B194, which may or may not have bent the rules.

Benetton B194 v Brawn 001?

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust

This season, Formula 1 will run all-new cars – lighter, smaller, more agile machines fitted with ‘overtaking mode’. The engine formula has also changed with the sport moving onto a new-generation 1.6-litre V6 hybrid that runs on sustainable fuel and increases electrification to a 50/50 split with the internal combustion engine.

It will, the sport’s bosses hope, create better racing. Only time will tell.

There is always the possibility that a team or engine manufacturer (as has been reported) could find a loophole in the regulations that will give them a jump on their rivals.

An advantage that Brawn, with his BGP 001, found in 2009 when Jenson Button romped to the Drivers’ title after clinching six of the opening seven race wins before Brawn’s rivals caught up on the team’s double diffuser design.

“Of course,” Brawn told the official F1 website as he weighed up his seven best car designs, “the Brawn car, which had the whole fairy tale story around it.

“It’s well documented, but what I would emphasise is how the resources of Honda built that car, or the resources of the Honda F1 team. We had three wind tunnels working in parallel at one stage, and that can get confusing if you don’t manage it carefully. We designed the programmes to complement the strengths and the weaknesses of each particular tunnel. It was one of the Japanese engineers who came up with the twin floor concept using the tunnel in Japan.

“Due to the withdrawal of Honda and the very late adaptation of the Mercedes engine in the car, it’s also worth mentioning just how compromised the engine installation was. The gearbox was up in the air, because the crankshaft output height was higher on the Mercedes, so we had to lift the gearbox up to get it to fit. Again, that damages the centre of gravity, and affects the suspension geometry and all sorts of things.

“There were a lot of compromises on that car to fit the Mercedes engine, so I think if it had been designed with a Mercedes engine from scratch, it would have been even quicker than it turned out to be!”

Formula 1’s season of change: F1 2026 explained

👉 F1 2026 tech analysed: The future of overtaking and biggest car advantage identified

👉 F1 2026 driver line-up: Lewis Hamilton and other drivers confirmed for 2026

Amongst his top seven designs, Brawn also listed the Benetton B194, the car that carried Michael Schumacher to his first title with Benetton.

Brawn was the technical director at the time with the car claiming six pole positions and eight grand prix wins. Schumacher won the title by a single point ahead of Williams’ Damon Hill, but it was a season marred in controversy as title rivals clashed, and intrigue surrounded the B194 itself.

“It was an extremely controversial year (writer’s note: given the allegations of rule-bending, disqualifications for Schumacher and a collision with title rival Damon Hill at the season finale), but one that demonstrated the value of starting projects early,” Brawn said.

“In 1993 we had active suspension, and in 1994 it was passive suspension, so the cars were very different. We started designing the 1994 car at the beginning of 1993, which was almost unheard of in those days, because cars tended to be designed in the last few months of the previous year.

“We had some, not original, but very important ideas around the centre of gravity and weight. It was a very, very light car, so we had a huge amount of ballast that we could stick on the bottom, which got the centre of gravity down. Those physics still apply, whatever the racing car is.

“It was one of the very special cars in my career, clouded a little bit by the controversy – but a fabulous design and a highlight.”

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next: F1 2026 uncovered: Next-gen cars, new tyres, and design decisions