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| 2009 Formula One season
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The 2009 Formula One season was the 60th FIA Formula One World Championship season. The season took place over 17 rounds, and started with the Australian Grand Prix on 29 March 2009. It ended on 1 November 2009 with the inaugraul Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Jenson Button and Brawn GP secured the driver and constructor titles respectively in the Brazilian Grand Prix,
the penultimate race of the season. It was both Button and Brawn's
first Championship success, Brawn becoming the first team to win the
Constructors Championship in their debut season.
Ten teams participated in the Championship after several rule changes were implemented by the FIA to cut costs to try and minimise the effect of the global financial crisis. There were further changes to try to improve the on-track spectacle with the return of slick tyres, changes to aerodynamics and the introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) presenting some of the biggest changes in Formula One regulations for several decades.
The Brawn team, formerly Honda, won six of the first seven races, their
ability to make the most of the new regulations being a deciding factor
in the Championship as other teams caught up in the second half of an
unpredictable season.
The Driver's World Championships would be decided in the traditional manner of points scored after Bernie Ecclestone's idea that the driver who won the most races be declared as the champion was scrapped following protests from the Formula One Teams Association.
Pre-season testing
The first multi-team testing session took place at Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona in November 2008, two weeks after the end of previous season. All teams, except Toyota, took part in the testing session where some teams tested their new aerodynamics package and slick tyres. BMW Sauber and Williams were amongst the forerunners in this case, with the German manufacturer running both rear and front wings to 2009 specifications. The team's test driver, Christian Klien, labelled the car the ugliest car he'd ever seen. F1 newcomers Sébastien Buemi, Lucas di Grassi and Bruno Senna tested for Toro Rosso and Honda respectively. Takuma Sato returned for a test with Toro Rosso and WRC Champion Sébastien Loeb tested for Red Bull. McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa also tested for Force India, an exercise seen as a part of the teams' new technical partnership. Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Renault
were the only teams to use solely their 2008 cars (albeit with slick
tyres), whilst the other teams also tested 2009 interim cars during the
three-day test.
The next test took place at Jerez in December 2008, and was attended by six teams. Toro Rosso candidate Sébastien Buemi topped the time-sheets on all three days, defeating rival candidates Takuma Sato and Sébastien Bourdais. The test also saw the McLaren team debut a front wing and nosecone designed to 2009 specifications, as well as stripped bodywork. BMW Sauber and Williams continued running the interim cars which debuted at the previous test, while Renault and Toro Rosso continued running their 2008 cars with slicks and simulated downforce-levels.
Following the first launches, the teams returned to the track on the
19th of January for more testing. Toyota, McLaren, Williams and Renault
tested at Algarve again together with Toro Rosso, which used their 2008
car. Sébastien Buemi, in his first outing as confirmed driver for the
Toro Rosso team, topped the first three days in the interim car.
Heavy rain hampered the teams in the first two days, and only on
Wednesday could the drivers test the new cars on the slick tyres. On
Thursday, however, the rain returned, and testing was stopped early in
the morning as the medical helicopters could not take off in the
torrential rain.
Ferrari intended to test at Algarve as well, but moved the test to
Mugello, where the rain continued to limit their testing amidst
mounting concerns over the F60's legality. BMW Sauber, meanwhile, enjoyed warmer weather testing the F1.09 at Valencia.brawn
On 9 March, testing started at Barcelona with the new team, Brawn GP, making an impact by leading the times early in the day. Toro Rosso also launched the STR4. This was the first test in which all teams used their 2009 cars. BMW Sauber led the times while Brawn GP finished fourth. On day three, Brawn GP's Jenson Button was fastest by just over one second to Ferrari's Felipe Massa completing 130 laps. On day four Rubens Barrichello became the first driver to get into the 1:18s.
On 15 March Renault, Brawn and Williams started the last teams
public test at Jerez. Brawn, again, led the standings 0.6 seconds ahead
of Renault's Fernando Alonso, completing 107 laps. On day two, Fernando Alonso
completed 107 laps and finished 0.55 seconds ahead of Barrichello, who
completed 61 laps, and ahead of his teammate, Jenson Button who
completed 12 laps, by 0.5 seconds and over a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton who was still struggling in the MP4-24. Button led the final day 0.2 seconds clear, completing 114 laps ahead of Williams driver Nico Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Jr. and Hamilton.
The testing carried on at Jerez with McLaren and Williams staying.
McLaren showed good progress after slicing a whole second off their
pace with Williams driver Nakajima almost 2 seconds behind in the FW31.
On day two Nakajima led by 0.4 seconds to McLaren. McLaren slashed some
more time out of the MP4-24, while importing over some new parts from
Woking. McLaren and Williams then returned to Britain to finish off
preparations for Australia; leaving for the season opener on Monday to
join the rest of the grid.
McLaren
have been experiencing some problems with the car lacking rear
downforce. At the penultimate test of the season in Barcelona, the
McLaren car was rarely less than 1.5 seconds off the pace. Felipe Massa stated he had never seen McLaren so far behind.
A major source of controversy throughout the winter season were the rear diffusers.
Three teams – Toyota, Williams and Brawn GP – launched their cars with
a diffuser that uses the rear crash structure in order to generate
additional downforce.
These designs were quickly protested, and just days after the cars were
unveiled, rival teams asked the FIA for a clarification on the matter.
With only days to go before the start of the 2009 season, the rear
diffuser designs once again attracted controversy with Red Bull's motor
racing advisor Helmut Marko declaring that the other seven teams will unite to lodge an official protest should they be used in the race. On the Wednesday of the first race an official complaint was launched by other teams against the rear diffusers of the Williams FW31, Toyota TF109 and the Brawn BGP 001 saying that they were illegal, but after analysing the cars the FIA reported that the cars were not illegal. The other six teams filed an appeal which was heard on 14 April 2009 – the week prior to round three of the championship, the Chinese Grand Prix — and a result was decided on Wednesday 15 April. The FIA deemed the cars' diffusers legal after much deliberation.formula one
Teams
The following teams are signed with Formula One Management and make up the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA):
Williams and Force India were suspended from FOTA on the 27th May
2009, because of their "breaking ranks" and signing up to the 2010
championship, despite the ongoing debate over the FIA's planned budget cap for the 2010 season. Just hours before the team issued their entry, Max Mosley was handed a letter signed by all ten team bosses, insisting that he scrap his planned budget cap and its two-tier regulations.
New car launches
Teams and drivers
† See Sponsorship changes
‡ See Mid-season changes
2009 calendar
After several revisions, the FIA published the 2009 Formula One World Championship race calendar on 5 November 2008
† Night Race
ɫ Twilight Race
‡ New Circuit
Changes
Driver changes
Changed teams
Entered F1
Exited F1
Mid-season changes
Team changes
- Force India changed their engine supplier from Ferrari to Mercedes in a five-year deal.
- Gerhard Berger sold his half-stake of Scuderia Toro Rosso to Red Bull, claiming that the new regulations would "leave no room for improvement for a small team like STR".
- Honda F1
announced in December 2008 that they would withdraw their Formula One
team from the 2009 World Championship because of the problems caused by
the global financial breakdown and to focus on their core business activities. It was confirmed on 5 March 2009 that the team would compete in the 2009 season as Brawn GP,
with Mercedes engines, following a management buy-out, and would retain
the services of both Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello as drivers.
Calendar changes
- The debuting Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been added to the race calendar, as part of Formula One's expansion in the Middle East. The race took place at the Hermann Tilke-designed Yas Marina Circuit. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the final round of the 2009 World Championship on 1 November, 2009.
- After being dropped in 2007 and replaced by the Fuji Speedway, the Suzuka Circuit will return to host the Japanese Grand Prix in 2009.
- On October 7, 2008, the FIA formalized the 2009 season calendar with the dropping of the Canadian Grand Prix (for apparent financial problems) and the rearrangement of the Turkish Grand Prix to June 7, 2009. 2009 will be the first Formula One season since 1958 with no Grand Prix in North America. The Canadian Grand Prix had been on the provisional schedule, before being dropped.
- On October 15, 2008, the organisers of the French Grand Prix announced via their official website that the race would no longer be part of the 2009 season, citing "economic problems".This will be the second time that there has not been a French Grand
Prix on the schedule since the start of the World Drivers' Championship
in 1950. The only previous time was 1955. The race had been on the "final" schedule for 2009, and Bernie Ecclestone had previously stated that it would stay on the calendar, as they had a contract until 2011.
- On November 5, 2008, the FIA World Council shifted the Chinese Grand Prix to April and reshuffled the others to accommodate the loss of the French Grand Prix.
Rule changes
Banned since 1998, slick tyres have been re-allowed for 2009.
A ban on aerodynamic appendages has resulted in the 2009 cars having smoother bodywork.
The front wing is lower and wider than in 2008.
The rear wing is higher and narrower.
On 22 December 2006, the FIA released technical regulations for the 2009 season.
These have been revised several times to accommodate the findings of
the Overtaking Working Group (formed in response to concerns that
passing in wheel-to-wheel racing was becoming increasingly rare) and the increasing need for cost-cutting in the sport in the wake of the economic crisis. Some changes have been added later.
- Slick tyres will return for the first time since they were banned for the 1998 season. Bridgestone will continue to be the sole supplier of tyres, and drivers will still have to use both compounds of tyre during a race.
Soft tyres are differentiated by a green marking around the sides of
the tyres, rather than a white marking in a groove as used in 2008. Further, wet tyres were renamed as "intermediate" and extreme-weather tyres were renamed "wet".
- The aerodynamic regulations
have been radically altered for the 2009 season. Front wings will be
lower and wider, while rear wings will be much higher and narrower.
This makes the 2009 cars strikingly different in appearance from those
of previous seasons, and several drivers have expressed concerns that
the larger front wings could trigger more accidents; especially at the
start of Grands Prix when the cars are racing close to each other. As
well as the changes in the dimensions of the wings, bodywork will be
much more regulated with many of the additional components seen in
previous seasons effectively outlawed (including barge boards,
winglets, turning vanes, chimneys, Viking horns and dumbo ears), the
diffuser at the rear of the car has been moved back and upwards. Many
other minor chassis components have also been standardised. The aim of
the new aerodynamic regulations, as well as the reintroduction of slick
tyres, is to decrease reliance on aerodynamic downforce and increase
mechanical grip with the aim of making wheel-to-wheel racing easier.
- For the first time, cars will be allowed to use driver adjustable bodywork,
in the form of adjustable flaps in the front wing. The flaps can be
adjusted by up to six degrees, limited to only two adjustments per lap.
- Along with changes to bodywork and tyre size, the 2006 document included details of a Kinetic Energy Recovery System. This is a regenerative braking device designed to recover some of the vehicle's kinetic energy, which is normally dissipated as heat during braking. The recovered energy can be stored electrically, in a battery or supercapacitor, or mechanically, in a flywheel, for use as a source of additional accelerative power at the driver's discretion by way of a boost button
on the steering wheel. The regulations limit the additional power to
around 82 hp (61 kW) for six seconds a lap. The regulations do not make
this compulsory, and because of concerns about both limited performance
gains and safety implications many teams are believed to be unlikely to
use the new KERS systems for at least the start of the 2009 season.
And in fact the number of cars using KERS has dwindled from seven cars
for the first two races and a peak of eight cars at Bahrain to just
four cars (the Ferraris and McLarens). Until Hamilton's win in Hungary,
no car running KERS had won the race. BMW Sauber, one of the biggest
investors in KERS, announced after qualifying in Britain that they
would be abandoning their KERS programme for good.
- While it was reported in 2008 that the FIA were planning on
introducing a budget cap to limit the amount of spending by Formula One
teams,
the amount was not agreed upon and the budget cap idea was dropped.
Instead, costs will be brought down by an almost total ban on in-season
testing, a forced reduction in wind tunnel
usage, the sharing of more data during race weekends, and an increased
minimum engine lifespan: the engine will have to last for three races,
instead of two in 2008. The gearbox will have to last for four races,
and a penalty of five places in the starting grid will be applied,
should a driver change it during the weekend before the start of the
race.
- Each driver will be limited to a maximum of eight engines
throughout the season, in addition to four engines for practice/testing
purposes. To aid improvements in reliability, the engines will be
detuned from 19,000 RPM to 18,000 RPM.
- The rule stating that the pit lane is closed during a Safety Car
period will be scrapped in 2009. The rule was introduced in 2007 to
prevent drivers rushing back to the pits to refuel, possibly speeding
through a danger zone, but software has been successfully developed to
solve this problem.The pit lane speed limit has also been increased from 50 mph to 62 mph (100 kmh).
- The FIA initially declared that the driver with the most wins at
the end of the season would be the winner of the 2009 Formula One World
Championship, but dropped the decision because of opposition from teams
and drivers. Formula One Teams Association argued that FIA could not change the rules this close to the season's start without the full agreement of the teams.
Other proposals rejected by FIA were the introduction of a new points
system with the scale 12–9–7–5–4–3–2–1 and to award medals for first,
second and third place.
New F1 partnerships
Korean electronics firm LG set a partnership with FOM to show their logo during live timing system and timing graphics.
Broadcasting changes
- The BBC regain coverage of Formula One in the United Kingdom after losing it to ITV in 1997. The deal will last for five years and includes TV, radio and online coverage rights. Jake Humphrey presents the programme, with Jonathan Legard and Martin Brundle (swapping from ITV) doing the race commentary. Ted Kravitz joined the BBC to continue his role in the pit lane, and is joined by Lee McKenzie. David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan act as TV pundits, with Murray Walker doing a similar job on the BBC website. The broadcaster confirmed the details of coverage on 25 February 2009, including the return of iconic theme tune "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac.
- In Spain, Telecinco loses the F1 coverage rights in favor of Mediapro, major shareholder of LaSexta.
- In Bulgaria, TV7 have acquired the coverage rights for the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons from bTV.
- ESPN Star Sports has agreed to a new five-year deal for the exclusive rights to broadcast Formula One in 24 Asian countries, including India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea.[122]
- In Sweden, Viasat extends its broadcasting rights through 2011. The broadcast will be moved to the new motorsports channel Viasat Motor, but qualifications and race summaries will be on TV6 as well. This is the first time races aren't broadcast on free-to-view channel in Sweden.[123]
- In Denmark, TV3 Puls replaces TV2.
- In Greece, ANT1 has acquired the coverage rights for the next three years, replacing Alpha TV.[124]
- In Russia, RTR Sport replaces Ren-TV.[125]
- In Australia, Ten and its subsidiary One
will cover the season. One was launched on the weekend of the
Australian GP. One will broadcast all races and qualifying live when
possible. Hosted by Greg Rust and Cameron McConville, who cross to the BBC telecast.
- In Latvia, TV3 and Viasat Sport Baltic have bought the rights for showing live races for three years, replacing LNT, which had broadcast Formula One races for more than ten years.
- In Ukraine, K1 replaces Megasport.
- In Middle East, Bahrain Sports replaces Al Jazeera Sports.
- In Turkey, TRT replaces CNN Türk.
- In Canada, TSN replaces Speed.
Although TSN has had the rights for some time, it licensed the
broadcasts in Canada to SpeedTV. For 2009 TSN has decided to broadcast
the races themselves using the BBC Feed on their two stations TSN and TSN2 as well as their own French coverage on RDS.
The result has been less than perfect, with TSN not showing Friday
practice (though after several races they allowed Speed to cover them),
never showing post qualifying interviews, and often cutting off post
race interviews.
Results and standings
Grands Prix
Drivers
|
|
Key| Colour | Result |
|---|
| Gold | Winner | | Silver | 2nd place | | Bronze | 3rd place | | Green | Points finish | | Blue | Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC) | | Purple | Did not finish (Ret) | | Red | Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) | | Black | Disqualified (DSQ) | | White | Did not start (DNS) | | Race cancelled (C) | | Light blue | Practiced only (PO) | Friday test driver (TD)
(from 2003 onwards) | | Blank | Did not practice (DNP) | | Excluded (EX) | | Did not arrive (DNA) | | Withdrew entry before the event (WD) |
Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest lap
|
† Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.
‡ Half points were awarded at the Malaysian Grand Prix as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed.
Constructors
|
|
Key| Colour | Result |
|---|
| Gold | Winner | | Silver | 2nd place | | Bronze | 3rd place | | Green | Points finish | | Blue | Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC) | | Purple | Did not finish (Ret) | | Red | Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) | | Black | Disqualified (DSQ) | | White | Did not start (DNS) | | Race cancelled (C) | | Light blue | Practiced only (PO) | Friday test driver (TD)
(from 2003 onwards) | | Blank | Did not practice (DNP) | | Excluded (EX) | | Did not arrive (DNA) | | Withdrew entry before the event (WD) |
Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest lap
|
† Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.
‡ Half points were awarded at the Malaysian Grand Prix as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed.
Statistics
Drivers
† Felipe Massa of Scuderia Ferrari was an entrant to the Hungarian Grand Prix but did not start the race because of an accident in qualifying.
‡ Timo Glock of Toyota was an entrant to the Japanese Grand Prix but did not start the race because of an accident in qualifying.
Constructors
Report
The season was split into two halves, with the newly-formed Brawn GP dominating the first half of the season with successive wins, while the latter half saw an improved showing from Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren. Jenson Button
was able to capitalise on Brawn's advantage in the early rounds,
winning six of the first seven races, to give him his first World
Championship, overcoming several poor results during the latter races.
Sebastian Vettel and team-mate Rubens Barrichello were Button's main
challengers over the season, winning six races between them to finish
in second and third respectively.
Button won the season opening Australian race, with team-mate Rubens Barrichello in second, giving the team a 1–2 on its début. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel had been running in second until he collided with BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica a few laps from the end. The accident meant the race finished behind the Safety Car, with Toyota's Jarno Trulli in third ahead of Lewis Hamilton. After the race, Trulli was demoted to 12th place after McLaren
claimed Trulli overtook Hamilton under Safety Car conditions. This
accusation was later found to be false and Hamilton was disqualified
from the race for misleading the stewards. Trulli was re-instated to third place with team-mate Timo Glock promoted to fourth position. Hamilton was the centre of attention at the following Malaysian Grand Prix, with reports he was on the verge of quitting.
The race was equally dramatic, being stopped because of monsoon-like
conditions before 75% of the race-distance had been covered, meaning
only half points were awarded for only the fifth time in F1 history.
Button mastered the changing conditions for his second win, ahead of
BMW's Nick Heidfeld and Glock.
Another wet race in China gave Vettel and Red Bull the chance to shine, Vettel leading team-mate Mark Webber home to the team's first ever win. Button and Barrichello finished third and fourth. The fourth round, in Bahrain
saw Toyota clinch a surprise front row with Trulli taking pole position
ahead of Glock. Their aggressive pit strategy did not work, allowing
Button to charge through for his third victory of the year. Vettel
finished second ahead of Trulli. Hamilton and Räikkönen recorded their
best finishes of the year in 4th and 6th respectively, the two points Ferrari's first of the season. The Spanish
round was more of the same for Button, who took another victory to
extend his Championship lead, finishing 13 seconds in front of an angry
Barrichello. Webber finished third, ahead of Vettel. Brawn also
dominated the Monaco Grand Prix producing another 1-2 finish, as the car's early season superiority told. Barrichello overtook Räikkönen
from third on the grid but could not chase down race winner Button
while Vettel crashed out. Ferrari moved up to fourth place in the
Constructors' Championship with Räikkönen third and Massa fourth.
Button won again in Turkey,
making it six wins out of seven races for Button and Brawn after
pole-sitter Vettel made a mistake on the first lap. Vettel finished
third, behind Webber. With Barrichello retiring with gearbox problems,
Button had opened up a 26 point lead on his teammate. Trulli held onto
fifth position in the Drivers Championship with a fourth placed finish
in Istanbul Park.
The British Grand Prix
was seen as a turning point, being dominated by Red Bull with Vettel
securing his second victory of 2009 and third of his career. Webber
came in second to make it a 1–2 for Red Bull, in dry conditions.
Barrichello took the last podium position with local championship
leader Button down in sixth and off the podium for the first time this
season. Red Bull also dominated the following German Grand Prix with Webber taking his first pole, and going on to win the race, despite being given a drive through penalty
for causing a collision at the start of the race. Vettel came in second
ahead of Massa, on the podium for the only time this season. Rosberg
finished fourth, ahead of the Brawns of Button and Barrichello.
The Hungarian Grand Prix
was overshadowed by an accident in qualifying which hospitalised
Ferrari's Felipe Massa. A spring that had fallen off Rubens
Barrichello's car hit Massa on the helmet when he was travelling at 162
mph.Massa was airlifted to hospital and would take no further part in the season. After pole-sitter Fernando Alonso
retired, Lewis Hamilton, starting fourth, came through for his first
win of the season. Kimi Räikkönen finished second after a battle with
Mark Webber, Button could only manage seventh, giving him a lead of
18.5 points over Webber after Barrichello and Vettel failed to score.
The race saw a début for Jaime Alguersuari of Toro Rosso, who replaced the sacked Sebastien Bourdais.
During the four-week summer break before the European Grand Prix in Valencia, Ferrari announced Massa would be replaced by test driver Luca Badoer, after a proposed comeback by seven time World Champion Michael Schumacher was called off due to a neck injuries.
BMW announced their withdrawal from Formula One during the break,
stating that the team would leave at the end of the season, due to
"current developments in motorsport". Renault sacked Brazilian Nelson Piquet, Jr. after he failed to score and replaced him with Frenchman Romain Grosjean for the European Grand Prix.
Renault were initially banned for this race, following Alonso's wheel
falling off in Hungary, but on appeal this was reduced to a $50,000
fine. Renault's sacking of Piquet led to the disclosure of a plot to fix the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, which cost Flavio Briatore his job.
The European Grand Prix in Valencia was won by Rubens Barrichello, his first F1 win since China 2004,
from third on the grid and returning him to second in the drivers
standings. Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton finished second ahead of Kimi
Räikkönen. Button, in seventh, was the only other Championship
contender to score. Kimi Räikkönen took his first victory of the season
in Belgian Grand Prix. Giancarlo Fisichella produced one of the shocks of the season, qualifying his Force India
on Pole Position and keeping up with Räikkönen to finish the race
second, ahead of Vettel. Championship leader Button failed to score for
the first time in 2009 after being involved in a four car crash on the
first lap, while Barrichello finished seventh after an incident-packed
race. In the days after the race, Luca Badoer, who finished last, was
replaced at Ferrari by Giancarlo Fisichella, who was in turn replaced
by fellow Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi at Force India.
The Italian Grand Prix
saw a return to form for Brawn, with Barrichello taking the win ahead
of team-mate Button, for Brawn's fourth 1-2 of the season. Hamilton
crashed from third on the last lap, handing a podium position to
Räikkönen, who was followed home by Adrian Sutil,
his career best finish. With Vettel scoring just one point and Webber
crashing on the first lap, the Championship was increasingly looking a
two-horse race between Button, on 80 points and Barrichello on 66.
Hamilton redeemed himself by winning the Singapore Grand Prix
ahead of Timo Glock and Fernando Alonso. In the Championship battle,
Button recovered from 11th on the grid to finish fifth, behind Vettel
and one place ahead of Barrichello. Vettel had been challenging
Hamilton for the lead before a drive-through penalty
for speeding in the pitlane, while teammate Webber literally crashed
out of the title race. Vettel kept his slim hopes of the Drivers
Championship alive in the Japanese Grand Prix
with a dominant display, leading home Trulli of Toyota while both Brawn
drivers struggled, finishing seventh and eighth. Trulli's team-mate
Timo Glock was injured in a crash in qualifying, and he was replaced
for the season by Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi.
The Drivers and Constructors Championships were both decided at the penultimate race in Brazil.
After a poor wet qualifying session for Button, which saw him start
from fourteenth, he fought up to fifth during the race - with
pole-sitter Barrichello finishing in eighth this gave Jenson Button
enough points to clinch the title. Along with the Drivers title, Brawn
GP managed to become the first team to win the Constructors
championship in their first season. The race itself was won by Mark
Webber, followed by Robert Kubica in his best result this season. Lewis
Hamilton completed the top three, moving him and McLaren above Kimi
Raikkonen and Ferrari respectively.
Button is the tenth British driver to win the championship, and the first time since Graham Hill (1968) and Jackie Stewart (1969) that consecutive championships have been won by British drivers. It is also the first time that consecutive championships have been won by Englishmen (Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart being Scottish).
The inaugral Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
rounded out the season, with another win for Vettel securing second in
the Drivers' Championship. By Button not winning this race, Sebastian
Vettel became the only driver to win races in both the first and the
second half of the 2009 season. He was followed home by Webber, who
held off Button in a tense last lap. Barrichello finished the year in
fourth, ahead of Nick Heidfeld on BMW's F1 swansong. Sixth saw first
points for new boy Kamui Kobayashi, who had replaced Glock after his crash in Japan.
Race fixing controversy
In a scandal dubbed "Crashgate" by the media, allegations of race-fixing during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix emerged during the second half of the 2009 season from former Renault driver Nelson Piquet, Jr. Over the course of the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix,
Piquet, who had been sacked weeks earlier by Renault, claimed he was
asked to crash at the Singapore race in a strategy designed to aid
teammate and eventual race winner Fernando Alonso. Renault were handed a two-year suspended ban from the sport after the FIA World Motor Sport Council decided the team's managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds
had asked Piquet to crash. Both had left the team before the WMSC
hearing, where they were given life and five-year suspensions
respectively. It had been rumoured Renault were prepared to quit the
sport at the end of the 2009 season had the team been heavily punished, but the FIA found Briatore and Symonds solely to blame and chose to suspend Renault's ban. |
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