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 inaugural 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. 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 have been won by British drivers.

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.

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 and a result was decided on Wednesday 15 April. The FIA deemed the cars' diffusers legal after much deliberation.

Teams

The following teams are signed with Formula One Management and make up the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA):

• Ferrari
• McLaren-Mercedes
• BMW Sauber
• Renault
• Toyota
• Toro Rosso-Ferrari
• Red Bull-Renault
• Williams-Toyota
• Force India-Mercedes
• Brawn-Mercedes

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

Constructor	Chassis	Launch date	Launch location
Ferrari	F60	January 12	Mugello, Italy
Toyota	TF109	January 15	Online
McLaren-Mercedes	MP4-24	January 16	Woking, United Kingdom
Renault	R29	January 19	Portimão, Portugal
Williams-Toyota	FW31	January 19	Portimão, Portugal
BMW Sauber	F1.09	January 20	Valencia, Spain
Red Bull-Renault	RB5	February 9	Circuito de Jerez, Spain
Force India-Mercedes	VJM02	March 1	Circuito de Jerez, Spain
Brawn-Mercedes	BGP 001	March 6	Silverstone Circuit, United Kingdom
Toro Rosso-Ferrari	STR4	March 9	Circuit de Catalunya, Spain

Teams and drivers

Team	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	No.	Race Drivers	Rounds	Test Driver(s)
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-24	Mercedes FO 108W		1	Lewis Hamilton	All	Pedro de la Rosa Gary Paffett
					2	Heikki Kovalainen	All
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F60	Ferrari 056		3	Felipe Massa	1–10	Luca Badoer Marc Gené
						Luca Badoer‡	11–12
						Giancarlo Fisichella‡	13–17
					4	Kimi Räikkönen	All
BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.09	BMW P86/9		5	Robert Kubica	All	Christian Klien
					6	Nick Heidfeld	All
| style="border:0;background:#f9f9f9" | | style="border:0;background:#f9f9f9" | ING Renault F1 Team† Renault F1 Team	Renault	R29	Renault RS27		7	Fernando Alonso	All	Romain Grosjean Lucas Di Grassi
					8	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	1–10
						Romain Grosjean‡	11–17
Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF109	Toyota RVX-09		9	Jarno Trulli	All	Kamui Kobayashi
					10	Timo Glock	1–15
						Kamui Kobayashi ‡	16-17
Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR4	Ferrari 056		11	Sébastien Bourdais	1–9	Jaime Alguersuari David Coulthard Brendon Hartley
						Jaime Alguersuari‡	10–17
					12	Sébastien Buemi	All
Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB5	Renault RS27		14	Mark Webber	All
					15	Sebastian Vettel	All
AT&T Williams	Williams	FW31	Toyota RVX-09		16	Nico Rosberg	All	Nico Hülkenberg
					17	Kazuki Nakajima	All
Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM02	Mercedes FO 108W		20	Adrian Sutil	All	Vitantonio Liuzzi
					21	Giancarlo Fisichella	1–12
						Vitantonio Liuzzi‡	13–17
Brawn GP F1 Team	Brawn	BGP 001	Mercedes FO 108W		22	Jenson Button	All	Anthony Davidson Alexander Wurz
					23	Rubens Barrichello	All

^† 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

Round	Official Race Title	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date	Time
					Local	UTC
1	ING Australian Grand Prix	Australian GP	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit	29 March	17:00	06:00
2	Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix	Malaysian GP	Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur	5 April	17:00	09:00
3	Chinese Grand Prix	Chinese GP	Shanghai International Circuit	19 April	15:00	07:00
4	Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain GP	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Manama	26 April	15:00	12:00
5	Gran Premio de España Telefónica	Spanish GP	Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona	10 May	14:00	12:00
6	Grand Prix de Monaco	Monaco GP	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	24 May	14:00	12:00
7	ING Turkish Grand Prix	Turkish GP	Istanbul Park	7 June	15:00	12:00
8	Santander British Grand Prix	British GP	Silverstone Circuit	21 June	13:00	12:00
9	Großer Preis Santander von Deutschland	German GP	Nürburgring	12 July	14:00	12:00
10	ING Magyar Nagydíj	Hungarian GP	Hungaroring, Budapest	26 July	14:00	12:00
11	Telefónica Grand Prix of Europe	European GP	Valencia Street Circuit	23 August	14:00	12:00
12	ING Belgian Grand Prix	Belgian GP	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa	30 August	14:00	12:00
13	Gran Premio Santander d'Italia	Italian GP	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	13 September	14:00	12:00
14	SingTel Singapore Grand Prix†	Singapore GP	Marina Bay Street Circuit	27 September	20:00	12:00
15	Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix	Japanese GP	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	4 October	14:00	05:00
16	Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil	Brazilian GP	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	18 October	14:00	16:00
17	Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prixɫ	Abu Dhabi GP	Yas Marina Circuit‡	1 November	17:00	13:00

† Night Race

ɫ Twilight Race

‡ New Circuit

Changes

Driver changes

Changed teams

• Sebastian Vettel: Scuderia Toro Rosso → Red Bull Racing
• Anthony Davidson: Super Aguri / Honda Racing (test driver) → Brawn GP (test driver)

Entered F1

• Sébastien Buemi: Trust Team Arden (GP2) → Scuderia Toro Rosso

Exited F1

• David Coulthard: Red Bull Racing → consultant and test driver for Red Bull.
• Takuma Sato: Super Aguri → unknown

Mid-season changes

• Sébastien Bourdais was released by Toro Rosso following the 2009 German Grand Prix. He was replaced by World Series by Renault driver Jaime Alguersuari who had previously served as Red Bull and Toro Rosso's reserve driver.
• Felipe Massa was injured during qualifying for the Hungarian GP. Seven-time world champion and Ferrari advisor Michael Schumacher originally agreed to stand in while Massa recovered, but he cancelled his return because of a neck injury. Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer stood in for Massa, although he was dropped after two races. On 3 September, Ferrari announced that Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella would replace Badoer for the rest of the season (Ferrari will have used four drivers this season, and this is the limit as set by Article 19.1 of the Sporting Regulations), having been released from his contract.
• Nelson Piquet, Jr. parted company with Renault during the four-week summer break. He was replaced by Frenchman Romain Grosjean.
• After Fisichella moved to Ferrari, Vitantonio Liuzzi was confirmed on 7 September as his replacement at Force India.
• Kamui Kobayashi replaced Timo Glock for the remaining two races of the season after tests showed Glock had cracked a vertebra in addition to his leg injury at the Japanese Grand Prix.

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 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

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 . 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 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.

Sponsorship changes

• ING terminated its title sponsorship deal with Renault just before the Singapore Grand Prix following the race-fixing scandal.

Broadcasting changes

Formula One broadcasters change

Country	2008	2009
United Kingdom	ITV	BBC
Norway	TV3 and Viasat SportN	Viasat Motor
Spain	Telecinco and TV3	Mediapro (laSexta), IB3 and TV3
Bulgaria	BTV	TV7 and BTV
India	ESPNStar alliance	ESPN Star Sports
Malaysia	Pay-TV Astro	ESPN Star Sports and ntv7
Denmark	TV2	TV3 Puls
Greece	Alpha TV	ANT1
Russia	Ren-TV	RTR Sport
Turkey	CNN Türk	TRT
Latvia	LNT	TV3 and Viasat Sport Baltic
Lithuania	TV3	TV3 and Viasat Sport Baltic
Ukraine	Megasport	K1
Middle East	Al Jazeera Sports	Bahrain Sports
Sweden	Viasat Sport and TV6	Viasat Motor
Estonia	TV3	TV3 and Viasat Sport Baltic
Canada	Speed – Licensed from TSN	TSN, TSN2 and RDS
Australia	TEN and Ten HD	TEN and One HD

• 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, and 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.
• 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.
• In Denmark, TV3 Puls replaces TV2.
• In Greece, ANT1 has acquired the coverage rights for the next three years, replacing Alpha TV.
• In Russia, RTR Sport replaces Ren-TV.
• 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

Rd.	Grand Prix	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning constructor	Report
1	Australian Grand Prix	Jenson Button	Nico Rosberg	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	Report
2	Malaysian Grand Prix	Jenson Button	Jenson Button	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	Report
3	Chinese Grand Prix	Sebastian Vettel	Rubens Barrichello	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Report
4	Bahrain Grand Prix	Jarno Trulli	Jarno Trulli	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	Report
5	Spanish Grand Prix	Jenson Button	Rubens Barrichello	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	Report
6	Monaco Grand Prix	Jenson Button	Felipe Massa	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	Report
7	Turkish Grand Prix	Sebastian Vettel	Jenson Button	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	Report
8	British Grand Prix	Sebastian Vettel	Sebastian Vettel	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Report
9	German Grand Prix	Mark Webber	Fernando Alonso	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	Report
10	Hungarian Grand Prix	Fernando Alonso	Mark Webber	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
11	European Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Timo Glock	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	Report
12	Belgian Grand Prix	Giancarlo Fisichella	Sebastian Vettel	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	Report
13	Italian Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Adrian Sutil	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	Report
14	Singapore Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Fernando Alonso	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Report
15	Japanese Grand Prix	Sebastian Vettel	Mark Webber	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Report
16	Brazilian Grand Prix	Rubens Barrichello	Mark Webber	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	Report
17	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Lewis Hamilton	Sebastian Vettel	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Report

Drivers

Pos Driver AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON TUR GBR GER HUN EUR BEL ITA SIN JPN BRA ABU Points 1 Jenson Button 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 6 5 7 7 Ret 2 5 8 5 3 95 2 Sebastian Vettel 13† 15† 1 2 4 Ret 3 1 2 Ret Ret 3 8 4 1 4 1 84 3 Rubens Barrichello 2 5 4 5 2 2 Ret 3 6 10 1 7 1 6 7 8 4 77 4 Mark Webber 12 6 2 11 3 5 2 2 1 3 9 9 Ret Ret 17 1 2 69.5 5 Lewis Hamilton DSQ 7 6 4 9 12 13 16 18 1 2 Ret 12† 1 3 3 Ret 49 6 Kimi Räikkönen 15† 14 10 6 Ret 3 9 8 Ret 2 3 1 3 10 4 6 12 48 7 Nico Rosberg 6 8 15 9 8 6 5 5 4 4 5 8 16 11 5 Ret 9 34.5 8 Jarno Trulli 3 4 Ret 3 Ret 13 4 7 17 8 13 Ret 14 12 2 Ret 7 32.5 9 Fernando Alonso 5 11 9 8 5 7 10 14 7 Ret 6 Ret 5 3 10 Ret 14 26 10 Timo Glock 4 3 7 7 10 10 8 9 9 6 14 10 11 2 DNS 24 11 Felipe Massa Ret 9 Ret 14 6 4 6 4 3 DNS 22 12 Heikki Kovalainen Ret Ret 5 12 Ret Ret 14 Ret 8 5 4 6 6 7 11 12 11 22 13 Nick Heidfeld 10 2 12 19 7 11 11 15 10 11 11 5 7 Ret 6 Ret 5 19 14 Robert Kubica 14† Ret 13 18 11 Ret 7 13 14 13 8 4 Ret 8 9 2 10 17 15 Giancarlo Fisichella 11 18† 14 15 14 9 Ret 10 11 14 12 2 9 13 12 10 16 8 16 Sébastien Buemi 7 16† 8 17 Ret Ret 15 18 16 16 Ret 12 13† Ret Ret 7 8 6 17 Adrian Sutil 9 17 17† 16 Ret 14 17 17 15 Ret 10 11 4 Ret 13 Ret 17 5 18 Kamui Kobayashi PO 9 6 3 19 Sébastien Bourdais 8 10 11 13 Ret 8 18 Ret Ret 2 20 Kazuki Nakajima Ret 12 Ret Ret 13 15† 12 11 12 9 18 13 10 9 15 Ret 13 0 21 Nelson Piquet, Jr. Ret 13 16 10 12 Ret 16 12 13 12 0 22 Vitantonio Liuzzi Ret 14 14 11 15 0 23 Romain Grosjean 15 Ret 15 Ret 16 13 18 0 24 Jaime Alguersuari 15 16 Ret Ret Ret Ret 14 Ret 0 25 Luca Badoer 17 14 0 Pos Driver AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON TUR GBR GER HUN EUR BEL ITA SIN JPN BRA ABU Points

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   as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed.

Constructors

Pos Constructor Car No. AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON TUR GBR GER HUN EUR BEL ITA SIN JPN BRA ABU Points 1 Brawn-Mercedes 22 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 6 5 7 7 Ret 2 5 8 5 3 172 23 2 5 4 5 2 2 Ret 3 6 10 1 7 1 6 7 8 4 2 Red Bull-Renault 14 12 6 2 11 3 5 2 2 1 3 9 9 Ret Ret 17 1 2 153.5 15 13 15 1 2 4 Ret 3 1 2 Ret Ret 3 8 4 1 4 1 3 McLaren-Mercedes 1 DSQ 7 6 4 9 12 13 16 18 1 2 Ret 12† 1 3 3 Ret 71 2 Ret Ret 5 12 Ret Ret 14 Ret 8 5 4 6 6 7 11 12 11 4 Ferrari 3 Ret 9 Ret 14 6 4 6 4 3 DNS 17 14 9 13 12 10 16 70 4 15 14 10 6 Ret 3 9 8 Ret 2 3 1 3 10 4 6 12 5 Toyota 9 3 4 Ret 3 Ret 13 4 7 17 8 13 Ret 14 12 2 Ret 7 59.5 10 4 3 7 7 10 10 8 9 9 6 14 10 11 2 DNS 9 6 6 BMW Sauber 5 14 Ret 13 18 11 Ret 7 13 14 13 8 4 Ret 8 9 2 10 36 6 10 2 12 19 7 11 11 15 10 11 11 5 7 Ret 6 Ret 5 7 Williams-Toyota 16 6 8 15 9 8 6 5 5 4 4 5 8 16 11 5 Ret 9 34.5 17 Ret 12 Ret Ret 13 15 12 11 12 9 18 13 10 9 15 Ret 13 8 Renault 7 5 11 9 8 5 7 10 14 7 Ret 6 Ret 5 3 10 Ret 14 26 8 Ret 13 16 10 12 Ret 16 12 13 12 15 Ret 15 Ret 16 13 18 9 Force India-Mercedes 20 9 17 17 16 Ret 14 17 17 15 Ret 10 11 4 Ret 13 Ret 17 13 21 11 18 14 15 14 9 Ret 10 11 14 12 2 Ret 14 14 11 15 10 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11 8 10 11 13 Ret 8 18 Ret Ret 15 16 Ret Ret Ret Ret 14 Ret 8 12 7 16 8 17 Ret Ret 15 18 16 16 Ret 12 13 Ret Ret 7 8 Pos Constructor Car No. AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON TUR GBR GER HUN EUR BEL ITA SIN JPN BRA ABU Points

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   as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed.

Statistics

Drivers

Pos	Driver	Constructor(s)	Starts	Finishes	Wins	Podiums	Poles	F.Laps	Points
1	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	17	16	6	9	4	2	95
2	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	17	12	4	8	4	3	84
3	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	17	16	2	6	1	2	77
4	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	17	15	2	8	1	3	69.5
5	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	17	13	2	5	4	0	49
6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	17	14	1	5	0	0	48
7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	17	16	0	0	0	1	34.5
8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	17	13	0	3	1	1	32.5
9	Fernando Alonso	Renault	17	14	0	1	1	2	26
10	Timo Glock	Toyota	14‡	14	0	2	0	1	24
11	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	9†	7	0	1	0	1	22
12	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	17	12	0	0	0	0	22
13	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	17	15	0	1	0	0	19
14	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	17	13	0	1	0	0	17
15	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Mercedes Ferrari	17	15	0	1	1	0	8
16	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	17	10	0	0	0	0	6
17	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	17	12	0	0	0	1	5
18	Kamui Kobayashi	Toyota	2	2	0	0	0	0	3
19	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	9	6	0	0	0	0	2
20	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	17	12	0	0	0	0	0
21	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	Renault	10	8	0	0	0	0	0
22	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	5	4	0	0	0	0	0
23	Romain Grosjean	Renault	7	5	0	0	0	0	0
24	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	8	3	0	0	0	0	0
25	Luca Badoer	Ferrari	2	2	0	0	0	0	0

† 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

Pos	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Starts	Finishes	Wins	Podiums	Poles	F.Laps	Points
1	Brawn	BGP 001	Mercedes	34	32	8	15	5	4	172
2	Red Bull	RB5	Renault	34	27	6	16	5	6	153.5
3	McLaren	MP4-24	Mercedes	34	25	2	5	4	0	71
4	Ferrari	F60	Ferrari	33	28	1	6	0	1	70
5	Toyota	TF109	Toyota	33	29	0	5	1	2	59.5
6	BMW Sauber	F1.09	BMW	34	28	0	2	0	0	36
7	Williams	FW31	Toyota	34	29	0	0	0	1	34.5
8	Renault	R29	Renault	34	27	0	1	1	2	26
9	Force India	VJM02	Mercedes	34	26	0	1	1	1	13
10	Toro Rosso	STR4	Ferrari	34	19	0	0	0	0	8

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. Sebastian Vettel and Button's team-mate Rubens Barrichello were his 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 Vettel had been running in second until he collided with BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica. The accident meant the race finished behind the Safety Car, with Toyota's Jarno Trulli eventually classified third despite McLaren Mercedes false protest he had overtaken Lewis Hamilton illegally. Reigning champion Hamilton was disqualified from the Australian race for lying to the stewards and at the following Malaysian Grand Prix was the centre of attention, with reports he was on the verge of quitting. The race was equally dramatic, being stopped because of monsoon-like conditions, meaning only half points were awarded for only the fifth time in F1 history. Button mastered the changing conditions for his second win.. The Chinese race also took place in wet conditions, this time Vettel lead team-mate Mark Webber home to the team's first ever win ahead of the two Brawns. A return to dry conditions in the following three races allowed Button to re-assert his authority, winning in Bahrain, Spain, Monaco and Turkey. Button had opened up a 26 point lead on his teammate with Vettel, who crashed out in Monaco and made a mistake while leading in Turkey, a further six points behind.

The British Grand Prix was seen as a turning point, being dominated by Red Bull with Vettel leading home Webber, in dry conditions. Button was not on the podium for the first time this season, finishing sixth. 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. Ferrari were also showing signs of improvement, Felipe Massa finishing third in what would be his final race of the season. He was hospitalised after being hit on the helmet by a flying spring when he was travelling at 162 mph in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The accident overshadowed the race which was won by Lewis Hamilton. 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. Giancarlo Fisichella in-turn replaced the disappointing Badoer after a remarkable second place at Spa for Force India.

The in Valencia and provided first wins of the season for Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Räikkönen respectively as Button's title charge was undermined by poor qualifying performances. Brawn briefly returned to form in Italy, with Barrichello leading home the team's fourth 1-2 of the season. With Webber literally crashing out of the title race under the lights in , Vettel kept his slim hopes of the Drivers Championship alive with a dominant display in the with Toyota's Trulli gaining what would prove to be Toyota's final podium before their withdrawal at the end of the season.

The Drivers and Constructors Championship 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 gaving him enough points to clinch the title. The race itself was won by Mark Webber, followed by Robert Kubica to give BMW Sauber their best result of their final season and his only podium result of the season. Lewis Hamilton completed the top three after starting 17th on the grid, moving him and McLaren above Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari respectively in the Championships. . The inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, taking place at sunset, rounded out the season, with another win for Vettel and Red Bull's fourth 1-2 result of the year, rounding of their strongest season to date.

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.

See also

References

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8289217.stm
2. |

External links

• Official Formula One website