Written by Oliver Wesley
The 2009 F1 season was brought to a close under the twilight skies of Abu Dhabi; ending a season of surprises, unforgettable moments involving new and old faces and a new World Champion in the likeable Jenson Button.
It is fair to say the sport is entering a Golden Era where each season throws up an unpredictable story and a new winner. I for one have been glued to this years BBC coverage of F1 and am amazed how the sport keeps getting better and better.
In 2007, it was about the drivers, Lewis Hamilton then a rookie driver leading the championship for most of the year against his own team-mate and former double World Champion Fernando Alonso, only for Kimi Raikkonnen to come in and snatch the championship by a single point. 2008 followed and the crowds watched as the two great F1 teams (Ferrari and McLaren) went head to head at the top of the table. It was a tight finish, but Hamilton held on to grab the title on the last lap and become F1's youngest champion.
So what has been the story this year? For one thing, the importance of the car has been thrust into the spotlight more than ever: the hugely successful emergence of Brawn GP capitalised on their superior car before rivals caught up on their speed. It has been a hugely entertaining watch where we've seen six different race winners, the prospect at one point of a Schumacher return and of course another Brit lifting the coveted drivers’ trophy.
It begs the question then: after a season of complete and utter unpredictable outcomes, what can we come to expect from Formula 1 in 2010? First and foremost, new regulations will not allow any team to refuel their car mid race, so after season upon season of teams creating a streamlined car, we will now be seeing limousine style cars holding enough fuel inside to last the whole amount of laps. However, it is the drivers who are catching the headlines, and most significantly Fernando Alonso joining Ferrari heralds the continuation of a rivalry with Hamilton, which has the potential to surpass past F1 encounters such as Frost/Senna or Schumacher/Hakkinnen.
It is realistically the two greatest drivers of this generation pitting themselves against each other in the sport's two most successful cars. There is also the small matter of the rise of Red Bull, headed by the enormous young talent of Sebastian Vettel. Robert Kubica being behind the wheel of a former champion Renault car and dare we right off the worthy driver and constuctor champions Brawn as just a flash in the pan?
So really, what lies in store for us fans is a painful wait until the Bahrain Grand Prix in March, and the start of another exciting F1 season.
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