Disney’s latest sports documentary is “Brawn – The Impossible Formula One Story”, an all-new four-episode series that features Keanu Reeves (“John Wick,” “The Matrix Resurrections”) as the host, who tells the remarkable story of how, in 2009, competing in the most expensive and technologically advanced racing series on Earth, the impossible happened. An understaffed, underfinanced and independent team won the World Championship – with a team that cost just £1.

In this series, viewers are taken behind the scenes of this Formula 1 fairytale with the people who were there – on the track, in the garage and in the boardroom – giving their own thrilling versions of a miraculous year. Over the course of four hour-long episodes, we get to see lots of previously unseen footage and taken for a ride through the incredible year for the team.

This new British documentary features interviews with British F1 driver Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, along with the team’s owner Ross Brawn, and many more huge names from the F1 world including Bernie Ecclestone, Christian Horner and Mark Webber.

I’ve never watched an entire Formula One race in my life, but because the British news covers the events of every race, I’ve heard of many of the biggest stars in the sport and have seen highlights of probably hundreds of races over the years. So, I came into this documentary without too much excitement and was at the bottom of my review pile over the past week. However, I watched two episodes over two nights and really enjoyed it.

The style of the documentary really got me interested in what happened to Brawn GP. I had no idea what had happened back in 2009, and one of the things I really enjoyed about this series, was the initial episode was more focused on the business angle, how Honda was pulling out of the sport due to the stock market crash and how this team managed to get the money together to survive. Then happened to come up with a groundbreaking design, that was miles ahead of every other team. With the second episode focusing more on the incredible rise of Brawn, with win after win, until the other teams basically accused them of cheating, resulting in a huge investigation.

While the later episodes focus more on Rubens and Jenson’s rivalry, with Rubens getting closer to winning the championship, while Jenson’s dream of becoming the champion slowly starts to unravel due to multiple issues, both with the car and his own personal issues.  

There’s something I find fascinating about sports documentaries, as they can present a unique take on the situation as a whole, that you wouldn’t see from just watching a race. While I might not be a big sports fan, I really have been enjoying shows like “Welcome To Wrexham”, “30 For 30” or “Quarterback”. Sports offers a different type of story, regardless of what sport that is.

If you’re a fan of Formula One racing, I’m sure you’re going to really enjoy getting an inside look at the events of 2009 and if, like me, you had no idea about any of this, its going to be a great introduction to the sport and how competitive and technical the sport can be.

Overall: “Brawn – The Impossible Formula One Story” is a fantastic documentary series that I really enjoyed. With just four episodes, it doesn’t spread out the story too much and keeps it focused. The addition of Keanu Reeves is very compelling; his voice-over and interviewing technique makes the show even more exciting; as you can tell, he loves the sport and has an ability to tell a compelling story. For me, to take a topic I had no interest in beforehand, tell me a story, educate me and, more importantly, entertain me, then that is the perfect documentary.

Rating: 4.5 Out Of 5

All four episodes of “Brawn – The Impossible Formula One Story” will be released on November 15th 2023, on Hulu in the United States and on Disney+ in many countries around the world, including the UK, Canada and Australia.

Will you be checking out “Brawn – The Impossible Formula One Story”? Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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