F1 Tickets

Seventh in the championship, with two fourth-place finishes and a haul of 34.5 points, is not a bad season, but when 2009 got underway Williams had hoped for so much more. 2010, however, will usher in a fresh era for the British stalwarts, with a new race line-up in Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg, and Cosworth replacing Toyota as their engine supplier. For technical director Sam Michael it’s an exciting time…

Q: Thinking about 2009, what are your overall thoughts about the team’s season?
Sam Michael: 2009 was a good step forward from where we’ve been in previous seasons, particularly from an aerodynamic perspective and in terms of consistency of the car across different tracks. It was a very competitive season this year with only a second covering the field at some races, so it was also satisfying when we were getting an extra one or two tenths out the car at those tracks. Overall, this year was a good step forward, but we didn’t end it where we wanted to be.

Q: What were the highs and lows?
SM: I think the high points in terms of performance were when Nico (Rosberg) was leading in Malaysia before the rain came and then Singapore before the white line incident. The car’s much stronger performance at Silverstone also upped our credibility as well.

Q: And how do you feel Nico and Kazuki Nakajima performed?
SM: Nico’s done a great job for the team and scored all of our points this year. He’s come a long way as a driver since he joined us four years ago and we wish him all the best. Kazuki certainly improved as a driver this year and did a lot of work setting up the car over race weekends. If anything, he drove better this year than last. In 2008 he was scoring points, but in a car that wasn’t as competitive. The difference was that this year the field was so tight and therefore the grid so penalising. If you were a couple of tenths off, you just didn’t cut it.

Q: The team’s three year partnership with Toyota has come to an end with the move to Cosworth. How were Toyota as an engine partner?
SM: Our relationship with Toyota was excellent. They did some great development work for us and they always went the extra mile. We have only good memories of our time with them. It’s a loss for the sport that they have withdrawn, and we wish all the staff at Cologne well for the future.

Q: There were significant changes to the regulations for 2009 with the express purpose of improving the racing. Do you think they worked?
SM: I think that clearly the changes made the cars easier to follow, however, there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done. One of the things that wasn’t addressed in the 2009 rule changes was circuit design. If you look at tracks like Barcelona where no one overtakes and take exactly the same cars to tracks like Monza, Hockenheim etc, there’s plenty of overtaking. The difference is circuit layout. Organisers need to look closer at creating slower speed corners which feed onto straights and at removing chicanes. If you look at somewhere like Abu Dhabi, there are some good aspects to the circuit, but there are fundamental mistakes. There wasn’t good enough racing there and the organisers need to rectify that before next year. You can’t keep blaming car design. The FIA are looking into this now and will hopefully solve the problem.

Q: Can you take us through the regulation changes for next season?
SM: There will be three main changes: narrower front tyres, no refuelling and a ban on wheel fairings. Narrower front tyres will shift weight distribution rearwards slightly, which will affect the aerodynamics and set-up of the car because of where the tyres position the wake. With no refuelling permitted, all the fuel will have to be carried at the start of the race, so the driver will have to manage brakes and tyres more effectively than they’ve ever done. A ban on wheel fairings should also improve the wake behind the car, so drivers can get closer to each other. That should help to improve overtaking opportunities.

Q: Looking ahead to 2010, it’s all change at Williams, firstly with a completely new driver pairing. Can you explain the choice of Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg?
SM: We chose Rubens because he is a multiple Grand Prix winner and has a huge amount of experience; he also still has a huge amount of enthusiasm to win races. He’s quick and is the complete package. We’re combining Rubens with Nico Hulkenberg, a rookie, but one who’s won everything he’s competed in since he started karting. Nico has great potential for the future. Combining youth with experience, we have what we wanted.

Q: What can each bring to the team and what are your expectations for them?
SM: We expect both of them to deliver at the level of the car and beyond. Rubens is already having a motivating effect and we expect him to keep bringing that to everyone at Grove. Nico has worked on the factory floor all year, so everyone knows him and is behind him. We want them both to drive the factory towards wins. Unless you’ve worked with a race winner, you don’t know where that level is and that is something that Rubens will bring us which we anticipate will have a great effect on the team.

Q: The team is switching to Cosworth engines next year. Will they be able to compete against the likes of the Mercedes and Ferraris?
SM: Cosworth have a lot of work to do over the winter on the dynos, particularly on fuel consumption but, in terms of performance and reliability, it will be difficult to judge how competitive they are until we get out on track. They are an engineering-led company, they’re pushing hard and what we’ve seen so far is encouraging.

Q: How is winter development of the FW32 going?
SM: It’s going really well. It’s a big aero race over the winter to see how much downforce you can add and drag you can take off. It’s also a matter of optimising all the different design parts and mechanical development as well. Both are areas of intense activity at the moment and we’re making good progress, but there’s still a lot to do.

Q: When will the FW32 make its track debut?
SM: In the first week of February with the four, single car tests ahead of Bahrain.

Q: There is a young driver test coming up in December, who will the team have in the cockpit?
SM: We will be running Andy Soucek on day one as part of his prize for winning the F2 Championship and then Nico Hulkenberg will take over for the remaining two days.

Q: What are the team’s ultimate objectives for 2010 and how will we achieve them?
SM: Our objective is to push everything to a much higher level from the solid base that we had with the FW31; from our drivers to the engines, chassis and trackside performance. Everyone in the factory is up for that and we want it to be a year about moving to the next level. We need to re-establish ourselves as one of the top teams and 2010 is our best opportunity to do that.

The 2009 season may have only just finished, but Fernando Alonso is already fully focused on 2010 and last week he took time out of his winter break to visit Ferrari – his new team for next year. Although still contracted to 2009 employers Renault, Alonso was permitted to journey to Maranello on Friday to meet with key Ferrari team members and tour the Italian squad’s factory.

The Spaniard was initially greeted by team principal Stefano Domenicali, before he chatted to several engineers. He then visited the team’s wind tunnel to see a model of their 2010 car, before working on his seating position in the cockpit. Finally he met with Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo, who officially welcomed the two-time world champion to the team.

Although Alonso will not be able to test Ferrari’s new Formula One car on track until February next year after the FIA’s test ban is lifted, the 28 year-old ended his day sampling Ferrari’s Fiorano test track in 458 Italia road car.

Continued from Part One

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone in June marked the start of the spiral that threatened Button’s title aspirations. Another update put Red Bull far ahead there as Vettel led home Webber, and with third place Rubens Barrichello began the second half of season form that made him the contender he had always claimed to be.

Webber won in Germany, his first Grand Prix success, then Hamilton in Hungary, Barrichello in Valencia and Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari in Belgium. That was where Button’s salvation lay, for nobody was putting together a consistent challenge. It was as if the world championship lead was an open goal, into which nobody could place the ball. Whereas in the opening seven races Button had scored 61 of the 95 points that would secure him the crown, in the ensuing seven he scored only 23. And instead of coming in tens they came as a dribble: three, four, two, two, eight, four.

He was the victim of his own uber-smooth Alain Prost style, for Barrichello’s slightly more aggressive use of the Bridgestone tyres warmed them more. He would thus qualify and race better, adding Monza to his victory tally. Button would show race speed, but often gave himself a mountain to climb with poor qualifying pace.

Red Bull ever so slightly lacked the consistency to take the fight to Brawn at this stage, as Hamilton scored a great triumph in Singapore to set up the final four-way fight between Button, Barrichello, Vettel and Webber. The Aussie’s season simply fell apart after Hungary, where he was third, and he didn’t score any points until his second victory came, beautifully yet in Button’s shadow, in Brazil.

But Vettel’s domination in Japan set him up to challenge for the title, just when it seemed he was out of the picture after a controversial drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding in Singapore had dropped him to a fourth place finish. Button scored one point in Japan, Barrichello two, so suddenly the fight was on. But when Barrichello’s Brawn proved to lack the pace of Webber’s Red Bull in Interlagos, Button’s task became easier. And there, after an appalling wet qualifying session had left him an apparently hopeless 14th on the grid, he drove a champion’s race up to fifth, ahead of Barrichello and just behind Vettel who had started 16th, to put the title beyond reach.

To rub in the season-long strength both teams had enjoyed, Red Bull scored another Vettel-led one-two in the finale in Abu Dhabi, with only Button able to challenge after Hamilton’s dominant McLaren had retired with brake problems. The way in which McLaren turned around their season was one of the highlights, but there are still suggestions that eventually their marriage with Mercedes could be annulled as the manufacturer cast covetous eyes at Brawn, whose engines replaced Honda’s.

Ferrari’s season was patchy, and very nearly tragic, and they were the dominant headline grabbers in the summer. That began when Felipe Massa, who more often than not had the upper hand over Raikkonen again, was hospitalised after being struck on the head on qualifying in Hungary by a suspension spring that had become detached from Barrichello’s car. The Brazilian was placed in a medical coma, but thankfully made a full recovery and will race again next year. In his absence it was impossible to tell if Raikkonen did a good job, because his new team mates – Luca Badoer and then Giancarlo Fisichella – simply weren’t up to the job.

After Massa’s accident the possible return of Michael Schumacher was tantalising, but ultimately the former multiple champion was unable to regain sufficient fitness after sustaining a neck injury while racing motorcycles.

That summer story dovetailed with the bad news that BMW were also pulling out, leaving Sauber high and dry as they had not signed up to the new Concorde Agreement which had finally been hammered out in July, ending talk of teams staging their own breakaway series.

Continued in Part Three

Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA

1st Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1h34m03.414s; 2nd Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1h34m21.271s; 3rd Jenson Button (Brawn), 1h34m21.881s.

Q: Sebastian, you took the fight to Lewis Hamilton in the early stages. You managed to get ahead of him. It was another powerful performance today.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it was. A fantastic race. First of all the start and we had a very good launch. Obviously not good enough to out-accelerate Lewis, but I was very close. I was surprised. Then going on the long back straight he pushed a button and that’s it, he disappeared in the distance. But I was able to stay close enough. We knew that we were a little bit heavier, so the key was to catch up, especially the last sector where the car was a dream today. I was always catching him up quite a lot and I think that was the secret, to stay with him, then with the pit stops and a lot of pressure entering the pit lane, I nearly went a bit wide at the entrance. Then that scary exit through the tunnel but on the limit and enough to get past him. Unfortunately, he then had to retire but up to that point it was a fantastic race. After that I had a little bit of a cushion to Mark and Jenson behind and I was able to pace myself a bit but until the end the car was fantastic and was working brilliantly on both tyres, both compounds. I think the prime was the favoured tyre today but also on the option towards the end it was a pleasure this evening to sit in the car. To sum up the season, it is up and down. I think the second half we have been very strong with four one-two finishes for Red Bull Racing, so congratulations to the team. They have been pushing, working a lot back in the factory, and we can see that the car is getting quicker. It is a shame now that the season ends but it is a perfect day to finish the season on a high.

Q: Mark, fantastic fight with Jenson in the closing stages. Tell us all about it.
Mark Webber: Well, first of all from the start I made a pretty good launch and had a bit of a look on the outside of Seb but the main game was really trying to get back on the inside and getting a clean exit as I knew it was a long run down to turn five. I got hit quite hard in the left rear at the first corner and was worried about a puncture but the team kept telling me the tyre had enough pressure, so I was quite relieved I didn’t have a puncture. It looked like Lewis was struggling a little bit in the first few laps, so both of us were able to sit a little bit closer than we expected. Then it started to stabilise and I was pretty happy on the primes. Seb was just that little bit quicker today on both stints, all three stints, especially the last one. I had not much of a feeling on the option and it was the same for me on Friday. I was quite slow on that tyre, so I preferred the stability of the prime. I thought at the end we had a bit of a short fuel, so fortunately JB could do some good laps on the overlap and close the gap down on me. I thought ‘yeah, this is going to be quite tight at the end.’ I just had to make sure I was accurate with my braking points. We know he had a slight top speed advantage but not much and it is a credit to how he has driven all year. We had a good clean fight, on the limit, but I just want to congratulate the team for their patience with me at the start of the year coming back from what happened. It has been very enjoyable driving with Sebastian this year. Renault have given us a fantastic engine and overall Red Bull can be incredibly proud for what they achieved. We have had 16 podiums together, so it is good.

Q: Jenson, that battle from your perspective and also a battle again with Kamui Kobayashi.
Jenson Button: It was a fun race. For me the prime tyre was not my favourite tyre in the race and I had a lot of understeer in the car. But when Kobayashi was on a one-stopper I came out and the first big stop is turn eight and when you have got that much fuel on board it is always very difficult to judge the braking point. I slightly outbraked myself and locked the rears and the fronts and ran a bit wide and he got past. In reality it didn’t make a difference to my race as he was quicker than me at that point. Then I was struggling a little bit with the prime tyre but I tried to make the best out of it. After the second stop I found I had very good grip with the option tyre. I got back the front issues I had with the prime and had very good initial turn in which meant I could carry a lot of speed through. That’s why I was able to close down Mark. The last couple of laps were a lot of fun. I couldn’t make the move stick. I was very excited by the battle and I thought I could pull it off but Mark is always a very difficult person to overtake. We were clean but on the edge, so it was perfect. Disappointed not to get that second place but I really enjoyed the fight today and today for me has been a bonus after winning the championship in Brazil. I have really enjoyed driving this weekend a car that has been very competitive, so I need to thank everyone at Brawn and Mercedes Benz for all their hard work. After Brazil it would have been easy to say ‘right, let’s just enjoy ourselves and not concentrate on Abu Dhabi’ but we did and we have come away with a podium which is a nice way to end the year and everyone should be very proud of themselves for what we have achieved. But lastly I would like to say congratulations to Seb. He did a sterling job today. They had the legs on us and we just couldn’t challenge them which is a pity but all round I think the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a good one and I am looking forward to coming back.

Q: Sebastian, Red Bull has won the last three races of the season, so let’s look forward a little bit. What does that say about where you are going to be going into next season.
SV: It would be very good to continue like that. Now we will face a long winter, especially for all of us drivers, a long break without any testing. Back in England, back in the factory, the guys are pushing very hard. The cars do not change that much next year. The biggest change is that you are not allowed to refuel. But we will see. It is a bit unknown. I think this season was very special. I remember a couple of years back these two were driving and I was watching and it was pretty much set after the first couple of races who was going to win each race. Fair enough there were only two teams. This year it was totally different, very exciting and a lot of overtaking. Different teams on top, so I think a special season all around and hopefully the next one will be as exciting as this one, even a bit more, we will see. Definitely looking forward. I think to sum it up we had a very good season, a lot of positive things, but also some things we probably did wrong. But it is not a shame. We just need to know and understand why that happened and we should come back stronger next year.

Q: Mark, Red Bull a top team. Are you here to stay?
MW: Yes, absolutely. We have got an incredible team back at the factory. We know that we have got under Adrian Newey someone that with him leading these type of regulation changes, particularly with what we had at the start of this year, it was clear as soon as we saw the car that it was going to be a bit of a weapon. Unfortunately in a way Brawn got the start with the double diffuser and things like that but in the end our team responded well with great character and next year there is absolutely no reason whatsoever for us not to be starting at the front again. I would much, much prefer to be in our position than quite a few other teams but we can never get too complacent. This is Formula One and things can change quickly but we are positive about next year, no question about it.

Q: Jenson, no win to round off the season but obviously an upbeat ending for you.
JB: For sure. It is always nice to end on a high but it is the same for everyone out there. It is a very competitive field. It is not just one team at the front. All season it has been up and down for us and for these guys and also for McLaren and the Ferraris. It is a very competitive and challenging season for us all, so for all three of us to be up on the podium at the last race is very enjoyable and it is a great way to round out the year. Now I am going to enjoy myself and celebrate what I have achieved this season.
SV: I hear you are getting married.
JB: Are you proposing?
SV: I heard you will get married.
JB: You know, they write great things in the press. Thank you for that one Seb, but I am going to enjoy this as we often look too far into the future and I want to just enjoy this moment and then I will look to the future after that.

Q: Sebastian, you are the first winner of the first day-night race in Abu Dhabi. Sum up the weekend for you.
SV: Unbelievable. We came here and we tried to prepare as much as possible, looking at the lay-out, doing some laps in the simulator. But driving the first couple of laps it was extremely slippery. It is a new track but it has rubbered in perfectly well. Really enjoyable all race. It is a challenging circuit. Every lap you need to focus and keep up the concentration. It is pretty easy to do a mistake and it can cost a lot of time. There are some corners that are quite tricky and they are made to lead you into mistakes, so you really need to be careful but all in all, starting at day, finishing at night is special. We have a dark tear-off and the moment you rip it off it is like someone has switched on the light, so it is quite unique. All in all a great place. Amazing what they have done here in that short period of time, so winning the race, one-two for Red Bull Racing, I think it cannot be much better.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Sebastian, this gives you an excellent position with second in the championship. What are your feelings about that?
SV: I am very proud. First of all I think there was a misunderstanding in Brazil and didn’t have the chance: so congratulations to Jenson, to Brawn. I think they truly deserve it. Over the season they did the better job. But after Brazil coming here we knew that we had a very, very strong package and the priority for myself was to secure second in the drivers’ championship and we succeeded. To do it with the victory is the best possible result. I am very, very happy. It was a fantastic race. It was a good start but not enough to catch Lewis but good enough to stay close. When we went on the back straight he pushed the button and disappeared. It was quite shocking to see how much it is worth, but we were a little bit heavier but still able to go his pace, stay with him. It is not easy when you follow another car. Even though you are a couple of seconds behind you still feel it is not as if you are on your own in clean air. But that was the key, pushing very hard and then obviously when I had the two overlaps on him it was quite exciting to leave the pits through the tunnel. It was very slippery and on new tyres you have silicon on the surface and it takes a little while. You go through the tunnel and it is very easy to make a mistake. Knowing I am fighting for the lead I knew I had to push. It was enough to get him. Unfortunately he then had to retire. I heard he had a braking problem, but up to that point I enjoyed it very much. It was a nice fight even though it wasn’t wheel-to-wheel but both of us were pushing very hard. After that I had a bit more of a cushion and was able to set my pace according to the pace of the guys behind, so all in all the car was fantastic, both compounds worked surprisingly well. I think the majority favoured the prime, so did we, but even on the option the last stint was great and to win here I am very proud. Starting the race at day time and finishing at night is very special. Great circuit. A great job they did here. Now I think I have said enough.

Q: Mark, tremendous amount of pressure at the end; what was the circuit like to race on, especially as you were having to defend. We also saw you make a little mistake and go off the circuit; how difficult was it to race on?
MW: Well, it was pretty dusty off-line, not massively but a little bit dirty. I got a little bit hot into turn one on one of the laps. Once you get on the Astroturf you just have to open the steering and get behind the kerb. And then at the end, fighting with Jenson, I knew that the two big stops were key to the lap – obviously he wasn’t going to do much anywhere else but Jenson’s form in overtaking this year has been pretty good, so I knew I had to be perfect with my braking points and do the best I could with the last few laps. I turned out to be OK. My last stint clearly wasn’t one of my best this year in terms of I didn’t have a great feeling on the option and that made it a bit more difficult, a few more grey hairs for everyone, but the option was difficult for me on Friday as well, so in the end, second place was as good as I was ever going to get today. Congratulations to Sebastian on the win, he’s had the measure of me in the last sector probably most of the weekend, so I presumed it to be the same again in the race. We did the best job as we could as a team, capitalised on other people’s lack of preparation and we delivered a one-two which is exactly what we came here to achieve. As I said before, I think that’s 16 podiums for the team and that’s something that everyone can be extremely happy about. I’m certainly happy, obviously, off the back of my best season ever. Of course, I would have liked to have had some more points here and there but it could have been a hell of a lot worse for me, so I will take this season, let me tell you.

Q: Jenson, for you, interesting that you mentioned that the option was the better tyre. Do you think that if you did two stints on the option you might have been closer to Red Bull?
JB: Yeah, for sure but we didn’t expect that to be the case. All weekend we’ve been running through our practices thinking that the prime was the better tyre. We’ve been using the prime like the option: for example, saving it for the end of practice two and practice three, so we could get a feel for it for qualifying. It was the best tyre for qualifying but in the race I was really struggling for a balance on the harder tyre. I had a lot of understeer in the car and the colder the circuit temperature got, the more difficult it was for me to get heat into the fronts. So I was suffering with that, especially in the second stint and I don’t know if you could notice, but Rubens was quite close behind me at the start of the second stint, he was sitting right on my tail, but I was able to put a little bit of a gap on him before the second stop, and then when we put the soft tyre on, the car was transformed, it felt great. The lap times were reasonably good and I was able to pull Mark in. The big issue for me on the hard tyres was understeer, so putting the option on… suddenly I had this great front end that I could just carry so much more speed into the corners. I don’t know if you saw on TV, but it was a little bit loose on exit but that’s the way you have to drive the car round here. It was a great race, I really enjoyed it and as I said in the unilateral, this race is a bonus to me, because I got the championship in Brazil, so I came here to enjoy myself and that’s exactly what I did. Qualifying wasn’t perfect but the race was pretty much as good as we could have expected, I think. I had a good tussle with Mark on the last lap, a fair fight but obviously very close and enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t make that move stick but I had a lot of fun. So I’m a little bit disappointed not to be second but I’m on the podium at the last race of the year, a year that’s been exceptional and I’m very happy with what’s happened this season and the way the team has performed. Probably when it’s been toughest, I respect the team for the effort that they’ve put in then, so they should all be very proud of themselves and that’s Brawn GP and Mercedes-Benz for what they’ve achieved. At the moment, I’m just going to enjoy this, this is big and I’m not going to concentrate on next year, I’m going to relax and enjoy this moment.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, now that the season is over, do you have any regrets from the previous Grands Prix?
SV: No. We can’t change yesterday, we can change tomorrow. The key now is obviously, looking back, five races where we didn’t finish. Sometimes we should have brought some points back home and we didn’t, so we need to understand why that was and as I say, change tomorrow, obviously learn, learn a lesson and try to come back stronger for next year. Overall, I think the circumstances sometimes weren’t easy to accept. Sometimes that happens, sometimes it’s just not supposed to be. Sometimes little mistakes happen from whoever’s side. I’m not here to blame anyone in particular. Nevertheless, I think it was a very, very strong season. If anything, I think Mark and myself and the whole team got very, very strong towards the end, we have won the last three races as a team. I think we have learned already, but there is still a lot we can improve for the future, and hopefully we will do so and come back stronger next year.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Mark, you struggled on the options at the end; was it because you had a busy out lap where you had overstressed the tyre or what could have been the reason?
MW: Not really. I think the movement of the tyre was the same on Friday for me. I didn’t really feel the tyre that well. It was just not as stable as the prime and I felt that immediately on Friday and I was hoping that it would be a lot better with a rubbered-in circuit but I couldn’t commit. It was half a tenth every corner, one tenth every corner and it adds up to be a lot, compared to the prime. And then, when you’re getting caught you obviously have to really make sure that you’re not making any mistakes to give him even more of a chance to pounce, so I had to then go into a bit more of a conservative mode and make sure that I didn’t give it too easily. He had to make sure he worked for it. That’s what happened in the last 15 laps.

Q: (Anne Giuntini – L’Equipe) To all three of you: considering there is a long break before February, I suppose you won’t be on holiday all the time. What is your working programme?
SV: Jenson’s getting married, we heard. So he’s busy.
MW: And we’re all invited as well.
SV: Yeah, everyone.
JB: Next question.
MW: But Japan’s a long way.
SV: Obviously I have a pretty stressful week, following up, stress and fun at the same time. We are going to Beijing, so I am looking forward to that. I’m trying to kick his (Jenson’s) arse. And after that, some things to do back in Germany, yeah, and at the end of the month we will have a big party back in Milton Keynes, with all the team, so I’m looking forward to that. So November is a bit the time probably to be a bit lazy, but back in December and January obviously trying to focus on next year, on the new car. As I said, we will have time and meetings to discuss and obviously analyse what we can do better in the future and then we put our focus on next season. Obviously it’s a long, long time without any testing, any driving for us, so I reckon I will do some karting, that’s for sure, even though it’s cold.
MW: Yeah, similar to Sebastian. Next week is very busy. I’m going to Austria tomorrow, doing some work over there for Red Bull and then also some stuff for Renault next Thursday, so the next few weeks I’ve got some PR work which we’ve put on the backburner during the season, so a few photo-shoots here and there. Then I’m potentially going to drive the GP3 car, the new category car, do a bit in that, to see how that’s going along. It’s a very exciting championship next year which Christian (Horner) and I are involved in, so I might do a little bit of driving in that, but not much, just to get a little bit of press and a little bit of feeling for how it is. And then I think the third week of November I’m going to open my leg up again and get a bit more metal out, and then that’s the end of that problem, so it will be a few weeks relaxing after that and then I go to Australia for Christmas, a few barbecues on the beach and go to the cricket as well, which is 100,000 Australians at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) which is a big highlight at the Boxing Day test match, so I’ve got a few good things to look forward to and then in January, come back to a European winter which is always a test, but anyway, we will do that and get ready for February.
JB: Wow, that’s a lot.
SV: Wait until you start…
JB: I have got nothing planned this winter. I’m going to the RoC (Race of Champions) tomorrow which takes place Tuesday, Wednesday. If you’re interested, head down to the Bird’s Nest in Beijing. The only thing is that I am going to go and enjoy myself with the team tonight, so we will see how I perform on Tuesday and Wednesday. But I’m looking forward to that, it’s always good fun. And then I’m heading to Japan to spend some time there with my girlfriend and then I will have a few more days off and then sort myself out and start thinking about next year. It’s amazing how early it starts, 2010 comes up on you in a flash. I’ve got to sort myself out and focus on that. I’m looking forward to the new challenge, for sure, but it can wait a couple of weeks. Oh, I’ve got my 30th birthday in January as well. Thirty! Imagine that, Sebastian.
SV: It’s a long way to go.
JB: Trust me, it goes by very quickly.

Q: (Chris Lines – Associated Press) Guys, you sit up there as two representatives of the two most dominant teams this season. If we go back a year ago, it was Ferrari and McLaren and they were nowhere in the early part of this year. How confident are you guys that you will be able to carry this form into next season and not pay a price for going all the way through developing the car?
SV: Well, I think we are a team, we are professional. You might read here and there that other teams stopped developing for this year, looking ahead to next year, but as I said earlier on, I think the regulations aren’t changing too much. Obviously the biggest change is no refuelling but other than that the cars will remain similar, similar shapes. I think the people know what they are doing back in Milton Keynes. Obviously this year was a great chance for us and as Mark said, we were able to build quite a weapon. So I’m very confident. I think we can only get stronger. Obviously it was the first time that we were in that position for us, Mark, myself and the team that we were in that position and I think we handled it quite well. We made some mistakes here and there but that’s what happens. We are not the only ones who made these mistakes and if you are fighting and trying to push and trying to get the last bit out of yourself, out of the team, out of the car, then sometimes you might step over the limit. I think it’s totally natural to go through that progress, so we have definitely learned a lot and the important thing is, as I’ve said before, to do it much better next year.
JB: Ferrari and McLaren are going to be competitive next season. They have the resources, they have the expertise, they have competitive drivers. For sure they are going to be quick. They’ve had a different approach over the last few races. If you look at Ferrari, they’ve said that they’ve had no development which is unusual to hear that, as there’s not much that changes for next season. But it seems that McLaren have thrown everything at the car and have been very competitive over the last couple of races. So going into next year, yeah, they’re going to be quicker compared to the start of this season but I don’t think they’re suddenly going to be stronger than Red Bull and Brawn. I think there’s going to be a big battle at the front which is going to be a new thing for all of us, because having four teams fighting it out at the front, that hasn’t happened – could you just keep… ‘scuse me, I’m just trying to talk – you might want to listen to this.
MW: We’re just talking about your wedding day, mate. We’re just trying to clear our schedules.
JB: But with four teams at the front, eight drivers fighting out for wins, I think that’s exciting, so, yeah.

Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) What’s the date for the wedding, Jenson?
JB: It’s my birthday, did you say? By the way, I’m looking forward to my present, thank you very much, Bob. What did you call me before?
BMcK: The World Champion?
JB: That’s the one, thank you. I’m not getting married this year.
SV: Why not? You don’t love her?
MW: Clear up January, clear it up.
JB: I think some things need to be kept private in your life and that’s one of them. Thank you very much.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton on how brake issues ruled him out of the running; Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Brawn GP’s Jenson Button on their dramatic fight over the last laps; and Sebastian Vettel on ending Red Bull’s season on a high with his dominant victory. The drivers and team personnel review Sunday’s race action…

Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel (1st):
“That was a fantastic race. We had a very good start, it wasn’t good enough to overtake Lewis, but I was surprised I was so close to him. Then, when Lewis (Hamilton) was on the long straight, he pushed a button and disappeared ahead, but I was able to stay close. We knew we were a little bit heavier and we were always able to catch him up, especially in the last sector. The car was a dream today. There was a lot of pressure, I nearly went a bit wide in the pit lane entrance during my first stop and then there was the scary exit through the tunnel, but I was on the limit and it was enough to get past Lewis. Unfortunately he then had to retire, but up to that point it was a fantastic race with him. After that I had a little bit of a cushion to Mark (Webber) and Jenson behind and I was able to pace myself, but the car was fantastic until the end. It worked brilliantly on both tyre compounds and it was a pleasure to sit in the car this evening. To sum up the season, what can I say? I would say up and down, we are currently very strong and have just gained our fourth one-two finish, so congratulations to the team. They have been pushing a lot, working very hard back in the factory. It’s a shame now that the season ends, as we are on a roll! It’s just perfect to finish the season in this way on such a high.”

Mark Webber (2nd):
“I made a pretty good start and had a bit of a look on the outside of Sebastian, but I knew I had to get back on the inside and get a good exit, as it was a long run down to Turn five. My car got hit quite hard on the left rear after the first corner and I was worried about a puncture. My race engineer, Ciaron, told me the tyre had enough pressure and I was relieved. It looked like Lewis was struggling a little bit in the first few laps and Sebastian and I were able to get a bit closer to him than we expected. Things then started to stabilise and I was pretty happy on the prime tyres. Sebastian was a bit quicker today in the second two race stints, especially the last one. I didn’t have much of a feeling on the option tyre and it was the same for me on Friday. I was quite slow on that and preferred the stability of the prime. Towards the end of the race, Jenson was able to close the gap to me and I thought ‘this is going to be tight’! We knew we had a slight top-speed advantage, but not much and I had to make sure I was accurate with my braking points. We had a good clean fight on the limit and the battle was a credit to how Jenson’s driven all year. I want to congratulate the team on what they have achieved and thank them for their patience with me at the start of the year when I was coming back from my accident. It’s been very enjoyable driving alongside Sebastian this year, Renault has given us a fantastic engine and overall Red Bull can be incredibly proud of what they have done. It’s been my best season to date; we’ve had 16 podiums together; it’s very good.”

Christian Horner, team principal:
“That was the most brilliant way to finish the season, by gaining our fourth one-two finish and our sixth win. Both our drivers were supreme today. Sebastian drove an immaculate race and we managed to jump Lewis through good strategy, good pace and good work with the pit crew. Mark also had enough fuel to get Lewis at the next pit-stop – however, that came sooner than expected when Lewis retired. Thereafter both guys were really strong on the prime tyre. Mark lost quite a bit of time with some difficult traffic just before his final stop and then he was struggling a little bit for traction on the option tyre, so Jenson was able to close in. It was a really exciting last lap of the year and Mark did a brilliant job to hang on to second place, so congratulations to the whole team – it’s been an excellent year. Thank you to Red Bull, to Mr Mateschitz for all his support, to our engine partner Renault and all the people who have worked so hard in Milton Keynes this year for this fantastic result. We’ve learned a great deal this year and we’ll come back stronger in 2010.”

Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer, Track Support:
“That’s it, the season is over and it’s time to reflect on what we have achieved. Firstly, I think we’ve had a very good season: the team is second in the championship, ahead of teams with far more experience than ourselves and we have twice as many points as McLaren or Ferrari. This is a big achievement and I would like to thank Red Bull for the excellent car they made. I also would like to thank the drivers who did a fantastic job, both in and out of the car. I mention the work they did out of the car, because both drivers stayed team members when we had difficult technical and political times with our engine. Our group team effort paid off and we only used the permitted number of engines this year. Sebastian didn’t need to use any extra engines, which is a true achievement and he even scored two more wins after he had no fresh engines left. Thank you also to all the guys in Viry and Aubigny for the good engines they have provided us. And finally, thanks to my Renault team who have worked for Red Bull at the races and tests. They did a fantastic job and they can be proud of what we have achieved this year, I am proud of them.”

Brawn GP
Jenson Button (3rd):
“It was a fun race today and to be on the podium for the last race of the year is fantastic. I’ve really enjoyed driving here at the Yas Marina Circuit this weekend and Abu Dhabi has done a fantastic job for its first Grand Prix. We expected the prime tyre to be the better tyre in the race but I was struggling for balance especially as the track temperatures started to fall and it became more difficult to get heat into the front tyres. The car felt great when we switched to the soft tyre for the final stint. It really felt transformed and suddenly I had a great front end and could carry more speed into the corners. The last few laps were really exciting and I was giving everything to take second place from Mark (Webber). I couldn’t quite make the moves stick and he’s a very difficult guy to overtake but it was a good clean fight and we were really on the edge. I’m a little bit disappointed not to get second but it’s still great to finish on the podium. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone at the team in Brackley and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines. It really has been a fantastic year and they should all be very proud of what we have achieved together. It’s nice to end the year on a high after what has been a very competitive and challenging season.”

Rubens Barrichello (4th):
“We had a pretty competitive race today. The start was quite exciting and I went to the inside at turn one but unfortunately I collided slightly with Mark (Webber) and he took a chunk of my front wing with him. It lost me a lot of downforce initially which let Jenson past but I was able to live with the understeer so we decided not to change the nose and I just pushed as hard as possible. I was quicker than Jenson in the middle stint but it’s very difficult to overtake, even more so when it’s your team-mate in the same car, so there was nothing I could do to get past him. Still it was a competitive race throughout and a lot of fun so I have to be pleased with fourth position today. It’s truly been a great season and I have to thank the team for giving me a car that has been so competitive this year and the opportunity to return to winning ways again.
We’ve had a great year together.”

Ross Brawn, Brawn team principal:
“A strong race from both drivers today and another podium finish is a great way to round off what has been a very successful season for the team. Jenson and Rubens both drove extremely well with Jenson providing a fantastic last lap of racing to bring the 2009 Formula One season to its conclusion. Abu Dhabi has provided a fantastic venue for the final race of the season and the sport can be very proud to have such a stunning facility on the calendar. 2009 really has been an incredible year for Brawn GP. To go through the trauma of the winter months and make it to the first race and then achieve eight Grand Prix victories and the constructors’ and drivers’ championships in our first year is an outstanding achievement. I would like to thank all our staff here and at the factory in Brackley for their hard work and dedication this year and Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart and Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth for the support that they have given us since the start of the year and the powerful and reliable engine that they have provided us with.”

BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld (5th):
“I am very happy with my fifth place. It was a good race in which I was able to get the maximum out of the car and score four points, which was enough to reach our target for the end of the season to overtake Williams in the constructors’ championship. After I have been a little unlucky in recent races, this time I was really able to exploit the car’s potential. For quite a long period I was able to go at the same speed as the world champion’s car, the Brawn. The strategy to go for a rather long stint paid off and the track was even more fun when it had more rubber on it. It is a pleasing end to our last season together. It now becomes very emotional. During the last laps I had to pull myself together in order to keep my concentration.”

Robert Kubica (10th):
“I lost the race in the second stint when I was very slow, while in the first stint I was able to go at quite a good pace, similar to Rubens. The car was working very well. After changing tyres I had no grip at all. The track was getting quicker and I just could not go at the pace of the other drivers. This was very strange. My fight with S