The story

Nine months in F1
From the glorious to the ghastly, we’ve witnessed it all in a turbulent season of F1. And the repercussions are still being felt…
By Rob Widdows

March

When the teams arrived in Melbourne in March precious few indicators pointed to who might have made the best use of a new set of rules. Pre-season testing at Barcelona suggested that Brawn could be the big surprise despite its last-minute rise from the ashes of the Honda team. And so it proved. Ross had scrutinised the small print and produced a very neat car with a double diffuser and a Mercedes-Benz engine. But nobody predicted the extent of its advantage. Rival teams, including Williams and Toyota who also had the new diffusers, were shocked when Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello locked out the front row and scored a one-two finish. Some cried foul and sought clarification on the diffuser from the FIA, setting the tone for a controversial season.

To make matters worse, Lewis Hamilton started from the back of the grid thanks to a gearbox failure, then got into a terrible muddle with Jarno Trulli’s Toyota under yellow flags in the race. Trulli was penalised and it appeared that Hamilton had taken a brilliant third place against the odds. But it later transpired that a lie had been told to the stewards about the true sequence of events when Hamilton and Trulli met on track. What a mess.

Ferrari and Red Bull were nowhere, beaten by the Toro Rossos. BMW seemed to have made no progress, and the McLaren had no grip. Without exception, they moved on to Malaysia wondering what they could do about the Brawns. Toyota, starting the season well, came home third and fourth and we wondered if it finally understood this business.

April

Now for three races in a month. A punishing schedule began with another win for Button, the Malaysian GP red-flagged when torrential rain made racing impossible. Brawn had again put its marker down while Toyota and BMW flattered only to deceive.

Evidence from radio transmissions proved that McLaren had, as suspected, deliberately misled the stewards in Australia. Manager Davey Ryan was sacrificed and sent home, while Hamilton, in a most uncomfortable press conference, apologised profusely and looked very sorry for himself. Ron Dennis, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen. Inconceivable as it was, Ron was forced to stay at home in the wake of the ‘lie gate’ revelations, not to be seen in the paddock again until season’s end in Abu Dhabi. This was serious. Hamilton, distracted by the meltdown, managed seventh in the race, a minute behind Button. Mark Webber salvaged something for Red Bull after Sebastian Vettel spun his race away. Adrian Newey had taken a close look at the Brawns and knew he had work to do – and fast – the FIA having ruled that a double diffuser was within the letter of the law, if perhaps not the spirit.

The form book was beginning to take shape, those with a bet on Button after Barcelona testing looking smug. How soon could the big-spending teams get into the wind tunnel, crank up the computers and bolt on a Brawn-type aero package? With just two weeks before China, things were not about to change. Or were they? A fortnight later, in Shanghai, Red Bull took a one-two victory ahead of the Brawns. What was this all about? Not much, actually, not at this point anyway. Ferrari and Renault were dismally off the pace but McLaren got both cars in the points. In Bahrain, Button was back on top.

May

After four races, the cars fitted with the KERS system had made no real impression, the complexities seeming to outweigh the extra horsepower. The device was something of a damp squib but McLaren and Ferrari persisted with it. BMW and Renault talked about ditching it. In Spain Button won again while Barrichello began to complain of favouritism in the Brawn camp and seemed to struggle getting his car away from the grid at times. Ross, ever the diplomat, knocked all that on the head.

Max Mosley said Formula 1 could survive without Ferrari – this in response to Luca di Montezemelo’s criticism of proposed budget caps. Clouds were gathering: FOTA had set off on the warpath. Here we go. Button won yet again in Monaco, a championship now looking distinctly possible. In the principality Prince Albert said F1 could not afford to lose Ferrari, Mr Ecclestone feared they might depart and Mr Mosley denied that a crisis was imminent.

On the track Hamilton said McLaren had no hope of results any time soon. Kimi Räikkönen, appearing to have lost interest while Felipe Massa grabbed the high ground, got himself on the podium in Monaco. Red Bull began to catch up, adding new parts to the cars every time out. BMW struggled still, Robert Kubica saying the car was simply not good enough. He was told he’d have a double diffuser for Turkey. Williams showed flashes of speed in qualifying but failed to deliver on Sundays. By the end of the month it seemed that all-out war between the teams and the FIA was looming, and in the background both Lola and Prodrive lodged entries for 2010. Force India and Toro Rosso brought up the rear, while Nelson Piquet Jr was all at sea in a Renault that even Fernando Alonso found a handful.

June

Into the summer, and Button did it again in Turkey. The title was within his grasp after six wins from seven races. Barrichello had gearbox failure and Red Bull filled the other steps of the podium, just six seconds adrift. The times, were they about to change? They were. At Silverstone the Red Bull dominated, 40 seconds clear of Barrichello, and Newey’s new aero package looking supreme through the fast sweepers in Northamptonshire. Button seemed to have tightened up, qualifying badly, and languishing down the field in front of his home crowd. Williams – with Nico Rosberg anyway – and Toyota continued to pick up points, while the rest looked resigned to starting again in 2010.

Behind the scenes it was gloves off in the row between the teams (except Williams) and the FIA over how F1 should be structured in the future. FOTA, fed up with Mosley’s mission to cut costs, cap budgets and bend the rules for the new Cosworth-powered teams, decided it was going to break away and start its own championship. The Silverstone paddock was bristling with rumour and counter-rumour, team principals huddled in vociferous groups. Bernie Ecclestone simply said he wasn’t concerned, it would be alright in the end. He was right. On June 23 Mosley said he would run for re-election in the face of what he saw as a revolution. On June 24 he announced he would not in fact stand for another term and FOTA called off its threat to break away. F1 moves in mysterious ways.

July

It was at the Nürburgring that the season really began to shift in Red Bull’s favour. Brawn was having trouble, it said, in heating the tyres while Button began to look less confident, less in control of things. Webber won, with Vettel second, while the Brawns managed only fifth and sixth. Barrichello let his emotions get the better of him, stepping out of the car and blaming the team for costing him the race that day in Germany. Fed up with losing to Button, the Brazilian let rip at the team that rescued his career. Ross Brawn later calmed it all down. Rosberg and Massa continued to gather points and Toyota showed intermittent flashes of speed. Force India began to show form, but BMW was going backwards and Renault was still struggling with what was clearly a difficult car. Down the grid at Toro Rosso, Sébastien Bourdais had been replaced by Jaime Alguersuari. The Frenchman was threatening legal action.

In Hungary Hamilton won for McLaren, just reward for a remarkable team effort in turning round a terrible car. Button managed only seventh, nearly a minute behind. Massa crashed heavily, having been hit by a spring from Barrichello’s Brawn. He would be out for the rest of the season. Ferrari initially announced that Michael Schumacher would replace him, this news causing a great deal of excitement.

Renault driver Piquet would not be returning after the summer break, having been unceremoniously fired by his manager Flavio Briatore following a poor season. He would be replaced in Valencia by Frenchman Romain Grosjean. Piquet was not a happy boy…

Following Mosley’s decision not to stand again for president, Jean Todt and Ari Vatanen began campaigning to be the next man in the seat of power. On the money front, Richard Branson said he was considering taking his cash to the new Manor Motorsport team for 2010, saying he liked to support an underdog.

August

After the long summer break we reconvened in the sunshine of Valencia where Brawn was back on top, this time with a much-relieved Barrichello scoring his first GP win in five years, and Button down in seventh. Jenson looked tense, unsure of the car. The pressures of leading all season were getting to him. Both McLarens finished in the points while Vettel’s engine expired, meaning that Button’s immediate rivals failed to take advantage yet again. While Räikkönen grabbed third for Ferrari, Massa’s replacement Luca Badoer finished bog-last a lap behind the leader and behind Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso.

It was a low point for the Scuderia in a generally disappointing season. Schumacher’s much-anticipated return had been called off at the last minute, the seven-time champion saying he just wasn’t fit enough, having injured his neck in a motorbike test. Not to mention the fact that most other teams vetoed Ferrari’s request for the German to be allowed to test a 2009 car.

At the end of the month, BMW announced it was leaving F1 at the end of the year. How much more drama could we take? The answer came seven days later at Spa where Räikkönen won for Ferrari (Badoer, out of his depth, was last again) and Button crashed out on the opening lap. Now the applecart looked decidedly unsteady. But the real story of Spa was the sudden – and spectacular – arrival of Force India on the podium. Had Räikkönen not been able to use his KERS button, then Giancarlo Fisichella would have given Vijay Mallya’s team its maiden win. Starting from pole, Fisichella was soon out-dragged by the Ferrari but he chased Räikkönen all the way to the flag. Everyone knew the Merc-powered Force India was quick, with its slippery aero and lack of downforce, but this was extraordinary. Fisichella was immediately tipped to join Ferrari in place of the struggling Badoer.

Whispers of a major scandal were in the wind in the Ardennes, and at the end of the month Piquet Jr, in a sulk after being fired, dropped a bombshell on the paddock. He had been told to deliberately crash his Renault at Singapore in 2008, allowing Alonso to pit under yellows and win the race. What? He could not be serious.

September*