2009 Formula One World Championship

Jenson Button won his first and only World Championship driving for Brawn GP.
Sebastian Vettel, finished runner-up behind Button by eleven points, in his first year with Red Bull.
Button's teammate Rubens Barrichello (pictured in 2010), finished third in the championship.
Brawn GP won their only World Constructors' Championship in their first and only season with the Brawn BGP 001 before being bought out by Mercedes the following season.
Red Bull Racing finished second in the World Constructors' Championship with the Red Bull RB5.
McLaren finished third in the World Constructors' Championship with the McLaren MP4-24.

The 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 63rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 60th Formula One World Championship which was contested over 17 events commencing with the Australian Grand Prix on 29 March and ending with the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on 1 November.

Jenson Button and Brawn GP secured the Drivers' Championship and Constructors' Championship titles, respectively, in the Brazilian Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the season. It was both Button and Brawn's first and only championship success, Brawn becoming the first team to win the Constructors' Championship in their debut season.[1] 2009 was the only season in which Brawn GP competed, before the team was sold to Mercedes for the 2010 season, also making them the only team ever to win 100% of championships in which they took part. Button was the tenth British driver to win the championship, and following Lewis Hamilton's success in 2008, it was the first time the championship had been won by English drivers in consecutive seasons, and the first time since Graham Hill (1968) and Jackie Stewart (1969) that consecutive championships had been won by British drivers.[2] Also notable was the success of Red Bull Racing, as well as the poor performances of McLaren and Ferrari compared to the 2008 season.

Ten teams participated in the championship after several rule changes were implemented by the FIA to cut costs to try to minimise the financial difficulties. 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.[3]

The Brawn team, formed as a result of a management buyout of the Honda team, won six of the first seven races, their ability to make the most of the new regulations being a deciding factor in the championship. Red Bull Racing caught up in an unpredictable second half of the season,[1] with the season being the first time since 2005 that all participating teams had scored World Championship points. Sebastian Vettel, Button's teammate Rubens Barrichello and Vettel's teammate Mark Webber were his main challengers over the season, winning eight races between them to finish in second, third and fourth, respectively.

It would be the last time a British-licensed constructor won the constructors' title until McLaren in 2024.[4] The 2009 season was also the first season season since 1997 in which the cars raced on fully slick dry weather tyres. This would also be the last season to feature in-race refuelling during pit stops as the practice which had been allowed continuously since the 1994 season would be banned from 2010 onwards.[5]

  1. ^ a b "Brawn win title in debut F1 year". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 October 2009. Archived from the original on 21 October 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  2. ^ "Great Button!". Sky Sports. British Sky Broadcasting. 18 October 2009. Archived from the original on 20 October 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
  3. ^ "Newey: Biggest rule changes since 1983". planet-F1.com. 9 February 2009. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  4. ^ "FACTS AND STATS: McLaren's record 26-year title wait ends and Leclerc scores career-best performance". www.formula1.com. 8 December 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  5. ^ https://www.racefans.net/2008/12/12/the-cost-cutting-plans-refuelling-ban/
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.