Ross Brawn paid tribute to both the current Brawn GP staff and those he had to let go at the start of the season after his team clinched the constructors' championship at Interlagos and took Jenson Button to the drivers' title in its first year of Formula 1.
Less than 12 months after Honda pulled out of F1 and put the team up for sale - leaving all the personnel and both drivers facing unemployment - the team completed a staggering title double thanks to fifth place for Button and eighth for Rubens Barrichello in Brazil.
Brawn started this year in dominant fashion, winning six of the first seven races with Button - with Barrichello adding two more victories later in the season.
It benefited from a huge effort by Honda prior to the company's exit decision, as it had already invested massively in preparing for a resurgence in 2009 - binning 2008 development early to focus on getting a perfect handle on the radical new rules.
But without Honda's finances, Brawn had to make a lot of personnel redundant at the start of the season, and the team boss said he was indebted to those no longer with the squad as well as everyone who had been part of the championship campaign.
"It's still got to sink in, it's going to take a while," Brawn told the BBC as he choked back tears on the pit wall.
"It's special, very special.
"The work they did over the winter was sensational.
"To all the people who can't be with us because we had to resize the team, my thanks go to them because they worked all winter and then they had to leave the team, so I hope they've enjoyed what we've achieved because they're part of what we've done."
Brawn also praised Button for the manner in which he clinched the title at Interlagos, as he charged up the order from 14th on the grid.
"He's made it hard work in this second half of this year, but it was a fantastic race today - he knew what he had to do," he said.
"We've lost a bit of pace on the car compared to some of our competitors in these last few races, but he stuck with it and he deserves everything he's got."
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