2009 Formula 1 Season Review

03 November, 2009 17:24 (GMT +00:00) 2009 Formula 1 Season Review Article Video Photos By Stephen Burns

In some respects the outcome of this year's world championship was decided before any of the cars had turned a wheel in anger. 2009 saw the introduction of a new set of technical regulations which saw the biggest shake up of the rules for 20 years.

In an attempt to cut costs in a time of recession testing was banned and the number of engines a driver could use was limited to 8 and a ban on engine development was maintained. Possibly the biggest change was the regulations governing the look of the cars, rear wings were made taller and narrower while the front wings were made wider and lower. Slick tyres were reintroduced and the size and location of the diffuser was altered. These changes were aimed at making the cars less reliant on aero grip and more dependant on mechanical grip.

At the beginning of December Honda announced that they were withdrawing from all motor-sport, which was a surprise and left the 700 people employed by the Formula 1 team facing redundancy. This decision came on the back of two poor years in F1 despite the fact they had recruited Ross Brawn, the man who helped Schumacher to all of his 7 world titles. Having made a poor car in 2008, the decision had been made very early in the season to restrict development of the '08 car and to concentrate resources on the new 2009 regulations and it now looked like the time spent on the new car would be wasted. Over the winter Ross Brawn and the rest of the former Honda senior management put together a deal to take over the team. It is even reputed that Jenson Button took a £5 million pay cut for the 2009 season. Three weeks before the first race in Australia it was still not clear if the former Honda team would be racing or even what they would be called.

By the time the teams lined up on the grid for the season opener in Australia it was clear that not all the teams had interpreted the new rules as well as others. The former Honda team, now named Brawn after its team principle, along with Williams and Toyota were running with a controversial “double diffuser” which the other teams protested as contravening the new rules. A date was set at the FIA court of appeal to rule on the issue. On the track it became clear that the double diffuser offered a significant advantage as the Brawn pair of Button and Barrichello scored a one-two on their début. Although Lewis Hamilton finished third he was later disqualified when it came to light that he had been coerced into lying to the stewards regarding an incident during a Safety Car period. One senior member of the team was dismissed and Ron Dennis stepped aside as team principle, actions which mitigated punishment from the FIA

Brawn's advantage from the double diffuser saw them continue to dominate, with Button picking up six wins in the first seven races, including a half point score for a Malaysian Grand Prix curtailed early due to sever rain. It seemed that no one driver was able to mount a significant challenge. McLaren's season started poorly as did Ferrari's, the Maranello team enduring their worst start to a season in their history. This situation was induced by last season's battle which forced both teams to divert resources from this years car in a bid to secure last year's title.

Silverstone saw bumper crowds hoping for a win for one of the British drivers but it was the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel who was victorious, with Barrichello out scoring team mate Button for the first time this season as the the weakness in Brawn's armoury began to show itself. In cooler temperatures the Brawn was having difficulty getting the tyres up to their necessary operating temperature and now the legality of the double diffuser had been clarified the other teams were catching up.

The Hungarian Grand Prix was full of incident, Nelson Piquet junior was dismissed from the Renault team after a race which was marred by a severe head injury to Ferrari's Felipe Massa during qualifying on Saturday. Massa had been following the Brawn of Barrichello when a suspension failure caused a spring to come dislodged from a rear damper. The spring then bounced down the track and up into the helmet of the Ferrari driver fracturing his skull. Massa was unconscious as the car hit the tyre wall and was airlifted to hospital for life saving surgery. The race saw a return to form as Lewis Hamilton took his first win of the season in a resurgent McLaren, while Button's seventh was his third consecutive finish off the podium.

The dismissal of Piquet led to rumours that he had been part of a plot during last year's Singapore Grand Prix to deliberately crash at a set point during the race to facilitate a victory for his team mate. Piquet was granted immunity from prosecution by the FIA and the resulting investigation led to the dismissal of Technical Director Pat Symonds and Team Principle Flavio Briatore by Renault. Briatore was issued with a lifetime ban from all FIA activities and Symonds a five year ban. The team was given a suspended ban as evidence proved that Briatore, Symonds and Piquet had been the only parties involved in the plot.

Speculation was rife that Massa's injury would lead to a return to racing of Michael Schumacher, this was soon discounted as a neck injury sustained while racing in the German Superbike Championship left him unable to withstand the rigours of Formula 1. Long time test driver Luca Badoer was drafted in to the second seat but was soon ousted after two last place finishes. Badoer's second race, in Belgium, was the return to the top step of the podium for the team as Kimi Raikkonen scored the win despite growing rumours he would be replaced next season by Fernando Alonso. The race also saw Button's first non finish of the season as he was removed from the action by Romain Grosjean in his first race as replacement for Piquet in the Renault.

Brawn showed a slight return to form as the hot Italian weather helped the tyre issues as Button took second in the race while team mate Barrichello took his second win of the season. The Red Bull of Vettel finishing eighth while Webber failed to finish. His once commanding lead in the championship was now looking less secure although the lack of consistency from his rivals meant there was no one threat to his place at the top.

The final four fly-away races of the season started in Singapore with a second win of the season for Hamilton, with Vettel managing to close the gap to Button by one point with Webber second consecutive retirement all but ending his chances of taking the title. The Japanese race, returning to the Honda owned Suzuka Circuit, left Button reeling as Vettel's win closed the gap by nine points but it seemed too little too late.

As the cars lined up in Sao Paolo, home town of Barrichello, Button only needed five points clear of his team mate to secure the title. Things looked promising for the Brazilian driver as he lined up on pole position while Button was in 14th. A first lap Safety Car, pit lane fire and several retirements promoted Button to ninth and some decisive overtaking moves. Barrichello faded during the race and a late puncture meant he once again failed to shine in his home race. Button however was World Champion.

The season finale at the new Yas Marina Circuit in Abu-Dhabi saw the first dusk to dark race at an impressive venue and despite the early promise of Hamilton in the McLaren a rear brake problem led to the out going World Champion's retirement after twenty laps. A strong performance from Button saw him take third place behind another one-two for the Red Bull team.

For the first time in the history of Formula 1 a team took both Driver's and Constructor's Championships in their first season, it was also the first time in 40 years since a World Champion has been replaced by a driver of the same nationality and ends Jenson Button's twenty one year quest to be the Formula One World Champion.

Driver's Championship Final Standings


   Pos.    Driver                Team                Points
1.    J. Button            Brawn                95
2.    S. Vettel            Red Bull            84
3.    R. Barrichello            Brawn                77
4.    M. Webber            Red Bull            69.5
5.    L. Hamilton            McLaren            49
6.    K. Raikkonen            Ferrari                48
7.    N. Rosberg            Williams            34.5
8.    J. Trulli            Toyota                32.5
9.    F. Alonso            Renault            26
10.    T. Glock            Toyota                24
11.    F. Massa            Ferrari                22
12.    H. Kovalainen            McLaren            22
13.    N. Heidfeld            Sauber BMW            19
14.    R. Kubica            Sauber BMW            17
15.    G. Fisichella            Ferrari/ Force India         8
16.    S. Buemi            Torro Rosso             6
17.    A. Sutil            Force India             5
18.    K. Kobayashi            Toyota                 3
19.    S. Bourdais            Torro Rosso             2            


Constructor's World Championship Final Standings

   Pos.    Team                Points
1.    Brawn GP            172
2.    Red Bull            153.5
3.    McLaren             71
4.    Ferrari                 70
5.    Toyota                 59.5
6.    Sauber BMW             36
7.    Williams             34.5
8.    Renault             26
9.    Force India             13
10.    Torro Rosso              8


Steve Burns

 Wikio