Formula One Sees One of its Strangest Seasons in Years
Through my job I’ve been involved with Formula One on and off for about 10 years. For most of that time I was convinced that Jenson Button was the beneficiary (and victim) of classic British hype. He seemed to get a lot of publicity for a driver who had done nothing in his career. Soon, you started to read about Button’s “window of opportunity” closing. He was making a tremendous amount of money for a B tier driver. I didn’t think he’d ever win a race (which he eventually did in 2006), let alone challenge for an F1 title.
And yet, this weekend, in Brazil, Button clinched the 2009 Driver’s, driving for the newly created Brawn team. I’m not sure what is more remarkable, a driver who had previously won just one race out of 155 starts or that he did it for a team that didn’t officially have a Formula One entry before March 6 of this year!
What does this mean for Formula One? After a decade of dominance which saw Ferrari win eight of 10 titles, the Brawn Championship (they won the Constructor’s title this year as well) and the performance by Button is simply amazing. Add in the second place performance by Red Bull-Renault and this was a season unlike any that has been seen in F1 in many, many years.
Yes, there is still one race to go in the 2009 season – the first ever Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – but it’s not too soon to be thinking about next year. There’s sure to be some juggling of drivers as under-performers, older drivers on large salaries and younger drivers who couldn’t hack it are all put under the microscope. Can Massa come back from injury? Will Kovalainen be able to put together a consistent season? Is Piquet Jr. done?
Regardless, several teams will be working hard this winter, notably Ferrari who had by their standards a horrific season with just one victory. McLaren-Mercedes will also look to be back with a vengeance, having scored a mere two victories in ’09. Toyota, Williams and Renault also will have many questions to answer.
Add several new teams to the mix – Lotus, Manor, Campos Meta and Team US – and the 2010 season is truly a mystery at this point. I think it unlikely we’ll see normal service resumed though, with 2010 possibly being as volatile as this season was.
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