This week on the channel +1.7M views this week

Driver61 looks beyond Brawn GP's famous diffuser loophole

Scott Mansell's documentary brings the car's aerodynamicists together with a 3D-printed floor to explain the 2009 championship.

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Driver61 Story of November 14, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.

Why This F1 Car Was Impossible to Beat

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1:33Early research at Super Aguri gave Honda a head start on the incoming aerodynamic regulations.
10:24A 3D-printed floor shows how Brawn fed airflow into an upper, secondary diffuser tunnel.
15:18Engineers explain why the late-arriving double diffuser was only one part of the car's advantage.
16:56Front-wing and brake-drum innovations conditioned airflow before it reached the floor.
22:24Fitting the Mercedes engine required hurried modifications to the rear chassis and gearbox.
48:41Mansell credits the development head start, Mercedes engine and integrated car design, rather than the diffuser alone.

The diffuser wasn't everything. Scott Mansell's only Driver61 upload this week takes a familiar Formula 1 fairytale and looks beneath it, quite literally, with a model of Brawn GP's floor.

"Why This F1 Car Was Impossible to Beat" has drawn nearly half a million views. Its most interesting move is to give the engineers room to complicate the legend: research began at Super Aguri before Brawn GP existed, Honda sacrificed its 2008 campaign to develop the following year's car, and the double diffuser arrived relatively late in that process.

Mansell uses a 3D-printed replica to explain how air reached the secondary diffuser tunnel. The video includes a sponsored printer segment. But the engineering story extends forwards through the car, with front-wing and brake-drum designs helping prepare the airflow long before it reached that famous floor. Former team aerodynamicists Ben Wood, Barney Garrood and Jonathan Zerihan supply the detail, alongside perspectives from Ferrari's John Iley and BMW Sauber's Willem Toet.

Then comes the wonderfully improvised machinery behind the polished white car: a last-minute Mercedes engine deal required the rear chassis and gearbox to be cut and modified to accommodate it. In the comments, viewers are discussing how the physical model clarified the diffuser, and asking whether they could print one themselves.

Across Driver61, daily views are roughly three times their usual level, while subscribers were unchanged over the week. Weekly views were close to Quadrant's, with THE RACE drawing a larger weekly audience. The new Brawn documentary carries the strongest individual momentum, followed by May's gearbox explanation and March's investigation into a banned race car, keeping the channel's appetite for ingenious engineering well fed.

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What viewers say

Thank you so much for this, this is the first time I have understood how the double diffuser works.
@kayc1773See it on YouTube
Oooh that 3d model is soo cool. Loved this loophole but did struggle to find accurate renders/diagrams to see it.
@ActuallyVenSee it on YouTube
I wish the model you made was made public, I would love to print one myself to get a proper hands on on what Brawn did. Great video!
@117-OGSee it on YouTube

7 more comments

Let's not forget they also had a strong driver lineup who were both consistent and fast
@stevecox8948See it on YouTube
I still have my unsponsored, unworn pure White Braun F1 hat from before it even had the black and yellow stripe. I paid 25 times more for than Ross Brawn paid for the entire team! $25.
@MrWATMSee it on YouTube
FINALLY a comprehensive explanation, thanks for this. finally i understand it
@andrewjoeljackson4653See it on YouTube
Best ever explanation of this amazing season, well done!
@landiahillfarm6590See it on YouTube
6:06 back when you could actually email the teams .
@lasarith2See it on YouTube
It essentially came down to the difference between a hole and a gap.
@sweetcorn1968See it on YouTube
I was a Honda fan starting from 2007. Watching the 2009 season was one of the greatest F1 stories I have ever followed, scintillating excitement
@ShadowboostSee it on YouTube