PUMA Motorsport F1 review, 2009

This one might well become a quiz-question in the years to follow; ‘Which Formula 1 team only ever existed for one year, but won both the drivers’ and constructors’ World Championships during that single season?’ And the answer to that particular poser, of course, will be Brawn GP…

…and perhaps, in future years, it will also be seen that 2009 was the only year that Ross Brawn and his team could possibly have ever achieved that amazing feat. Because, whilst the F1 world’s heavy-hitters either got bogged down with the complicated and controversial new KERS system (Ferrari) or confused by the sport’s switch back to slick tyres (McLaren), Brawn – as long ago as June 2008, when the team was still known as Honda – concentrated on creating a simple, effective and cleverly-designed car, ready to begin the ’09 season in style at Melbourne in March.

A precedent for the year to come was set during that opening Australian Grand Prix’s final stages, when, with just a few laps to go, the two fastest cars then on the circuit – Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull and Robert Kubica’s BMW, fighting for second and third places – managed to crash into each other, rather than concentrate on reeling in the leading but fading Button. This was the year when Jenson kept his cool…and his younger rivals – sometimes in faster cars – made crucial errors.

But perhaps, in the fullness of time, 2009 will ultimately be best remembered as the year that Red Bull truly came of age? Only nine months ago, several loud voices continued to state that this team wasn’t truly serious about winning anything; that it’s major purpose was solely as a high-profile marketing exercise for an energy drink. By the end of the campaign, however, those opinions had been silenced. Six Grand Prix wins and countless podium placings accounted for that…

…in fact – and many feel that this view is the one being discussed amongst the team themselves this winter, behind the closed doors of their Milton Keynes factory – there is an argument that Red Bull should perhaps have won both World Championships, this year. Their driver pairing was arguably more talented than Brawn’s, and they have under (water-tight) contract the finest designer in the F1 paddock, Adrian Newey. But the titles slipped away from them during the early part of this season, when Brawn – having led the way in ‘differently interpreting’ the double-diffuser law – were irresistible.

However, add together the points that Vettel, in particular, lost through either his own or the team’s mistakes – what tennis statisticians would classify as ‘unforced errors’ – and you have a higher points total than Jenson Button’s… It seems a fairly safe bet that the young German will at some point in the near future be crowned as World Champion. And he, too, is tied to a multi-year contract at Red Bull.

It used to be the case – and, again, perhaps ’09 will be seen as the significant year this long-established pattern finally came to an end – that the world’s best drivers somehow always found themselves in either a McLaren or Ferrari; because, bluntly, those were the only four cars capable of winning a World Championship with. This year, however, Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovaleinen finished 5th and 12th in the points standings, respectively; whilst Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa were 6th and 11th.

Massa’s escape from his horrific ordeal in Hungary, however, was F1’s ‘good news’ story of the year. Just a year or two earlier, in terms of crash-helmet design, and the sport would have entered into a period of mourning after that particular incident – a freak accident where a heavy piece of metal suspension ‘kicked’ up off the race-track and straight into the unfortunate Brazilian driver’s head. Retained by Ferrari for next year, the ’08 runner-up’s return to the circuit next year is one of the 2010 season’s most eagerly-anticipated features.

Massa’s new team-mate, Fernando Alonso, is privately regarded by many in the Paddock as being the Grand Prix scene’s fastest and most complete all-round driver; better, yes, than either Hamilton or Button. If Ferrari build a car for next year on a par with any of their machines from the Schumacher era, Formula 1 might well enter into yet another period of Ferrari dominance.

The legendary Italian marque is one of the few car manufacturers left on the grid for next season. Already, both BMW and Toyota have pulled out, with Renault, too, seemingly on the verge of departing the scene; precisely twelve months after Honda first stunned the world by abruptly taking their leave. It’s a cynical view, but many F1 insiders feel that Toyota, in particular, used the global ‘credit crunch’ as a convenient excuse for pulling out – having, after eight long and expensive years (we’re talking in the billions of dollars…), never looked like winning a single Grand Prix, much less a World Championship.

One of the lessons of F1 history – never better demonstrated than during 2009 – is that a nimble, specialist racing team is much better equipped to cope with rapid changes of strategy or tactic than a large, bureaucratic corporation, with complex layers of management. And bearing that in mind – whilst recalling what Brawn achieved this year – it’s intriguing to imagine what, say, brilliant chief engineer Mike Gascoyne, the great name of Lotus (backed with big money by the government of Malaysia) and an under-rated driver like Jarno Trulli might be able to achieve together next year? There’s going to be an awful lot more teams, cars and drivers, after all…

…and www.pumamotorsport.com will be hoping that one of those new faces on the grid for next year might be its resident F1 expert, Anthony Davidson. There were those at BAR-Honda, you see, who rated Ant as a better bet than Jenson Button. The man who, in case you needed reminding, is now Formula 1’s reigning World Champion…