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 on 29 March and ending with the inaugural 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, with Brawn becoming the first team to win the Constructors' Championship in their debut season. 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. 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 (for the first time since 1997), 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, 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, with the season being the first time since 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. The 2009 season was also the first season since 1997 in which the cars raced on fully slick dry weather tyres. This would also be the last season to use the scoring system valid since 2003 (10–8–6–5–4–3–2–1), and 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.
Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers competed in the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Bridgestone. EntrantConstructorChassisEngineRace DriversRounds Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren-Mercedes MP4-24 Mercedes FO 108W 1 Lewis HamiltonAll 2 Heikki KovalainenAll Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F60 Ferrari 056 2009 3 Felipe Massa1–10 Luca Badoer11–12 13–17 4 Kimi RäikkönenAll BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW-Sauber F1.09 BMW P86/9 5 Robert KubicaAll 6 Nick HeidfeldAll Renault F1 TeamRenaultR29Renault RS27 7 Fernando AlonsoAll8 Nelson Piquet Jr.1–10 Romain Grosjean11–17 Panasonic Toyota RacingToyota TF109 Toyota RVX-09 9 Jarno TrulliAll10 Timo Glock1–15 Kamui Kobayashi16–17 Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR4 Ferrari 056 2008 11 1–9 10–17 12 Sébastien BuemiAll Red Bull Racing Red Bull-Renault RB5 Renault RS27 14 Mark WebberAll 15 Sebastian VettelAll AT&T Williams Racing Williams-Toyota FW31 Toyota RVX-09 16 Nico RosbergAll 17 Kazuki NakajimaAll Force India F1 Team Force India-Mercedes VJM02 Mercedes FO 108W 20 Adrian SutilAll21 Giancarlo Fisichella1–12 Vitantonio Liuzzi13–17 Brawn GP Formula 1 Team Brawn-Mercedes BGP 001 Mercedes FO 108W 22 Jenson ButtonAll 23 Rubens BarrichelloAll
Free practice drivers One constructor entered free practice only drivers over the course of the season: Kamui Kobayashi for Toyota at the .
Team changes Honda withdrew ahead of the 2009 season, and the team was bought by a consortium led by team principal Ross Brawn. Brawn renamed the team Brawn GP, and raced with Mercedes engines, but retained Honda drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello and thus for the first time since season that Honda brand would absent in the sport until its return in . Force India also raced with Mercedes engines, after running with Ferrari engines in .
Driver changes The only offseason driver change was following the retirement of Red Bull's David Coulthard after 14 years in Formula One. He was replaced by Sebastian Vettel, who had raced for Toro Rosso in 2008. Vettel's seat at Toro Rosso was taken by the Swiss driver Sébastien Buemi, who was Red Bull's test driver in 2008.
Following the German Grand Prix, Toro Rosso's Sébastien Bourdais was dropped by the team, with Toro Rosso principal Franz Tost claiming that the partnership had not met his expectations. Bourdais was replaced by Jaime Alguersuari ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Alguersuari had been racing in Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2009, and had only signed a deal to replace Brendon Hartley as Toro Rosso's test driver two weeks prior. Bourdais was advised by counsel to file suit for breach of contract by Toro Rosso. Toro Rosso settled the matter with a $2.1 million payment to Bourdais to avoid litigation.
After sustaining an injury during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari's Felipe Massa missed the remainder of the season. He was replaced for the next two races by Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer, but after Badoer failed to score a single point in his two races, Ferrari replaced him with Giancarlo Fisichella who had signed a deal to be a Ferrari test driver for 2010 and had driven for Force India throughout the 2009 season. Fisichella's seat at Force India was taken by Vitantonio Liuzzi, who was Force India's test driver.
Following the Hungarian Grand Prix, Renault parted ways with Nelson Piquet Jr. as he had failed to score a single point and allegations that he had intentionally crashed during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix surfaced. Piquet was replaced by Romain Grosjean, who was Renault's test driver.
The 2007 World Champion, Kimi Räikkönen announced he would be leaving Ferrari at the end of the season, while Ferrari announced Fernando Alonso as their team driver for the 2010 season. In qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, Toyota's Timo Glock crashed heavily at the last corner and was airlifted to hospital with a leg injury. As he was not fit to race, Jarno Trulli was the only driver representing Toyota at the Japanese Grand Prix. On 11 October, Toyota confirmed that its test driver Kamui Kobayashi would make his race debut in the Brazilian Grand Prix, as Glock had suffered further complications from his accident, resulting in a cracked vertebra and he would not be guaranteed to be fit in time to race in Brazil. Kobayashi retained the seat in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
Calendar
Round Grand Prix Circuit Date 1 Australian Grand Prix Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne 29 March 2 Malaysian Grand Prix Sepang International Circuit, Selangor 5 April 3 Chinese Grand Prix Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai 19 April 4 Bahrain Grand Prix Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir 26 April 5 Spanish Grand Prix Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló 10 May 6 Monaco Grand Prix Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo 24 May 7 Turkish Grand Prix Istanbul Park, Istanbul 7 June 8 British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 21 June 9 German Grand Prix Nürburgring, Nürburg 12 July 10 Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring, Mogyoród 26 July 11 European Grand Prix Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia 23 August 12 Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot 30 August 13 Italian Grand Prix Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza 13 September 14 Singapore Grand Prix Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore 27 September 15 Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 4 October 16 Brazilian Grand Prix Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo 18 October 17 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi 1 November Sources:
Calendar changes Abu Dhabi made its first appearance on the F1 calendar under the name Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with a race being held at the Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on 1 November – the final round of the 2009 season. The Japanese Grand Prix changed circuits from the Fuji Speedway in Oyama to the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka. The Canadian Grand Prix was originally scheduled for 7 June, but was cancelled due to lack of sponsors and contractual problems and was replaced by the Turkish Grand Prix; the Grand Prix returned the next year.Au revoir Montreal: FIA cancels Canadian GP for 2009David Hayhoe, Formula 1: The Knowledge – 2nd Edition, 2021, page 36. The French Grand Prix was originally scheduled for 28 June at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, but was cancelled due to the withdrawal of financial support by the government; the Grand Prix returned in 2018 at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Testing venues and dates Test Event Circuit Dates 1 Pre Season Test Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir 16–19 February 2 Pre Season Test Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló 9–12 March 3 Young Driver Test Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera 1–3 December
Regulation changes
The FIA released preliminary technical regulations for the 2009 season on 22 December 2006, and these were 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 to minimise financial costs.
Slick tyres returned for the first time since they were abolished for the season. Bridgestone continued to be the sole supplier of tyres, and drivers still had to use both compounds of tyre during a race. Soft tyres were 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 "intermediate" and extreme-weather tyres were renamed "wet". The aerodynamic regulations were radically altered for the 2009 season. The front wings were made lower and wider, while rear wings were changed to be higher and narrower. As well as the changes in the dimensions of the wings, bodywork became much more regulated with many of the additional components seen in previous seasons (including barge boards, winglets and turning vanes) removed, making 2009 cars noticeably different in appearance than in previous years. The diffuser at the rear of the car was moved back and upwards. Many other minor chassis components were also standardised. The aim of the new aerodynamic regulations, as well as the reintroduction of slick tyres, was 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 were allowed to use driver adjustable bodywork, in the form of adjustable flaps in the front wing. The flaps could be adjusted by up to six degrees, limited to only two adjustments per lap. Adjustable front wings were designed to improve downforce when following another car, another change designed to improve overtaking.