F1 Tickets

It’s not often that a recent race winner and world champion ends a season without a confirmed seat for the following year, but that is just the situation that 2009 Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen is facing.

With Fernando Alonso joining the Italian team to partner Felipe Massa in 2010, Raikkonen is still to find a new cockpit in which to ply his trade. However, the Finn, who is a season shy of his 10-year anniversary in Formula One racing, doesn’t seem too anxious about his future and is instead determined to find the right drive.

And on Friday he reiterated that he is more than willing to bide his time until there’s a suitable vacancy at a team that can offer him the chance to challenge for more race victories and further titles.

“It’s hard to believe that I have been in Formula One for nine years already,” the 30 year-old said on his official website. “I am very motivated to win races and a championship again and will only remain in Formula One if I can race for a team that can give me a car to fight at the front. Let’s wait and see what happens.”

Although the 2010 driver market remains pretty open, with plenty of seats still up for grabs, Raikkonen has considered taking a sabbatical next year if he can’t find an acceptable drive. And speaking in Abu Dhabi a week ago, he made it quite clear to the media that time off remained an option.

“I can do whatever I want,” he said, “but like I said before, I haven’t made my decision about what I want to do yet. Basically I have a few different options and we will see what is the best one overall and then I’ll make my decision.”

During his nine-year F1 career, which has included spells at Ferrari, McLaren and Sauber, Raikkonen has racked up one world championship, 18 wins, 16 pole positions, 35 fastest laps and 579 points.

Ross Brawn has enjoyed a few classics seasons in his time. After winning six constructors’ championships with Ferrari, he took a sabbatical before returning with Honda. But when the Japanese manufacturer decided to bid farewell to Formula One racing at the end of last year, Brawn’s dream of making it back to the top looked over.

Instead of wallowing, the Briton set about using his impressive talents to save the Brackley team. He’d already built a beauty of a car, and having stuck his own name on the two BGP001s, saw his team rise from the ashes to take two titles. It’s the stuff of fairytales. Here he reviews his – and Brawn GP’s – 2009 season…

Q: Ross, so miracles do happen in Formula One racing. From a team that almost didn’t exist a year ago to a double title winner …
Ross Brawn: Well, miracle is not exactly a term at home in Formula One. Our success is a combination of many things. The new regulations had a major effect, and the fact that we’d been working on that car for a long time had a major effect. But what I am probably most proud of is that the introduction of a new engine – the Mercedes engine – at such a late stage didn’t destroy the programme. Ours, and the Mercedes engineers, should be very satisfied with what they’ve achieved without compromising the car too much.

Q: How do you explain the team’s sensational success? Was it down to giving KERS the cold shoulder and generally interpreting the rules more cleverly?
RB: I think that KERS was a major challenge to the teams at the beginning of the season. We saw the two major teams – Ferrari and McLaren – had that challenge and maybe it added to their difficulties at the beginning of the season. Now with the technology maturing it’s worth three or four-tenths of a second – and if KERS were to continue going into next season you would have to have it as an essential ingredient. I think for us we were able to carry over all the advantages we gained from starting the car very early and we didn’t lose that (advantage) over the winter.

Q: Why the midseason lull?
RB: The winter did have an impact. The tremendous effort everybody made over the winter and, to be frank, because we had to ‘resize’ the team in March all had impact. The team rebounded later in the year. I think we made improvements towards the end of the year. We won in Valencia and Monza and Rubens (Barrichello) was on pole in Brazil. My experience is that all teams see ups and downs over a season, but if you are not fighting for the championship they are not so visible. We’ve managed to pull ourselves together again. But yes, there was a dip in form in the middle of the season.

Q: How helpful was it that you had experience of fighting for championships?
RB: It was helpful for me personally, and then it was helpful for the people around to see that there was no need for panic or taking radical actions, but that we should concentrate on working as we had done before. I have never been a believer in setting off fireworks. Sometimes it can work but more often it just creates a lot of confusion. We quietly got on with our plan to put ourselves back where we needed to be. Probably the fact that I’ve been involved in championships which have had those midseason dips was very helpful.

Q: A lot was written about Jenson (Button) not being up to winning titles. Did you always believe that he would pull through?
RB: Yes. I was a little surprised at some of the difficulties that we had in qualifying – for some reason, qualifying didn’t work as we had hoped – but his race performances were exceptional, so he fully deserves the championship and he will be a lot stronger because of this championship. His approach to qualifying and racing has already improved enormously. When you’ve been in Formula One for ten years and won one race and you suddenly find yourself in a completely new situation, that’s not easy to deal with. He was not prepared and has not experienced it before. But you could say that the same goes for Sebastian (Vettel). He also had some odd races. But my guess is that you have to put it down to the fact that these guys had never fought for the championship before. It definitely has an effect.

Q: You and (Brawn GP CEO) Nick Fry gambled when you took over the team. Were there sleepless nights?
RB: I am very lucky that actually I rarely suffer from sleepless nights whilst worrying about work or racing. There were possibly a few times over the winter, but I’m not a person who looks back. Once a decision has been made, let’s get on with it. So once we made the decision to do this, then we were fully committed. The good thing was that we were never going to be in a worse position than we were with Honda closing the team. So whatever came after that, even if it was only an extension of people’s careers for another year, then nothing had been lost. We always made sure we were in a position to stop racing, if we had to, in no worse condition than we were when Honda stopped. Our staff was protected. They would have got all the redundancy that would have come if Honda had closed, so there was no losing situation because it couldn’t get any worse than closing the team. We had nothing to lose and a lot to gain. And we’ve been very fortunate and gained a lot.

Q: Neither of you were entrepreneurs, but as well as running the team you’ve also had to run a business. What was the most difficult part?
RB: From the technical and racing side it’s obviously made no difference. I quite enjoy running a tight budget. That brings a lot of discipline, so that’s not a bad thing. It’s true we are running on a much tighter budget than in the last ten years or so. I think the commercial side is the one that we have to continue to strengthen because that side will be crucial to succeed in the future. Sometimes the commercial or business elements are less controllable than engineering problems. Engineering problems are relatively logical, some of the business activities aren’t. That is probably the area where we still have to learn. But we are putting in place all the things that we need for the future, and our success is quite a big help and catalyst to open doors to find commercial solutions. Luckily now, if we go to a partner or a potential partner as a Brawn GP that has won both championships, it helps enormously.

Q: What lessons can other teams learn from Brawn GP?
RB: I would not want to lecture on what people should learn from us. What I’ve seen is that we can be more economic in our costs without affecting the end results. It would be fair to say that we are a bit of a hybrid at the moment because the investments were made by Honda last year against the expenditure that has been made by Brawn GP this year. But we were able to produce a car, we were able to produce a competitive car, and we’ve produced it at probably half the budget that we had last year. It’s true, there have been certain things that we haven’t been able to do because we haven’t had the budget but those things are not dramatic, and it demonstrates that Formula One could run very effectively with teams spending a lot less than they do now. And I think that all the resource restrictions that the teams have agreed to, when those are in place, nobody looking in from the outside will see the difference. What will be seen from the inside is a healthier Formula One racing, because the costs will be reduced considerably. And probably we are out to demonstrate that.

Q: The FIA has a new President in Jean Todt. You know him very well from your days together at Ferrari, what are you expectations?
RB: Jean takes a very strong team approach to whatever he does and he is the glue that holds the whole thing together. He does recognize in other people their talent, and he uses that talent to achieve the best results. What we are going to see with Jean is that he will probably not be very high profile as a person, but will be the conductor of an orchestra that will contain many people, and help it to move forward. Formula One has been through a fractious period over the last year or two and there was reason for that. The Formula One community is now looking forward to some stability and a quieter time. I have a lot of respect for him. He will do a great job. Max Mosley did a very good job but became controversial over the last two years. Jean will do the job perhaps in a less controversial way.

Q: How will the Brawn GP team look next year? Will it be Brawn-Mercedes?
RB: I could not possibly comment on that.

Q: If you had to judge this year against all the others you’ve spent in the sport, where would you place 2009?
RB: I sometimes say to my wife that we should enjoy those periods because they could be the best of our lives. I said that back in 2000, 2001, 2004. I have had some wonderful periods and you genuinely think that is as good as it gets. When I stopped racing at Ferrari I thought that it had been the pinnacle of my racing career, that it can’t get any better than that. Amazingly I have to say it has and that was something I never expected and something I didn’t plan. It evolved. My Ferrari time is unforgettable and sensational, but what we have achieved this year even surpasses that. It is definitely the highest achievement of my career.

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.

British Formula Three champion Daniel Ricciardo will make his Formula One test debut with Red Bull next month. Ricciardo, who visited the outfit’s UK headquarters in Milton Keynes for a seat fitting this week, will be in action at the Spanish circuit of Jerez from December 1-3.

“This is something I’ve dreamed about since I can remember, so I’m really looking forward to it,” the Australian told Red Bull’s official website. “No way did I think I’d be getting this at the end of the year. I’m feeling very, very excited to be here and to see the seat’s getting done.”

The 20 year-old, who has been a Red Bull Junior driver for the last two seasons, scored six wins and 275 points on his way to clinch the 2009 British Formula Three championship. Last season he raced in Formula Renault, winning the Western European Cup.

Ahead of his December run, Ricciardo has spent time in the team’s Formula One simulator and carried out an aero test.

“The F1 car is just a more wild piece of machinery,” he added. “The brakes are probably the biggest thing – the stopping power they have is quite huge. Mentally you have to be more switched on as well as, obviously, everything’s coming at you so much faster.”

Team drivers are not allowed to test until February 2010.

While there is still plenty of manoeuvring to play out in the driver market for 2010, one of the few new names to have a confirmed cockpit for next year is Bruno Senna, who will make his Formula One debut with new team Campos Meta.

Work on Senna’s charge for 2010 is already well underway and on Monday the 26 year-old visited Dallara’s factory in Italy where his car is being built. Updating his official Twitter page on Wednesday, the Brazilian seemed pleased with progress and hinted that his Campos car should be ready early in the New Year.

“The car seems to be in a well developed state,” he commented. “I’ve sat in the monocoque, made a seat and tested the power steering system. I was happy to see the team really investing in the project. The provisional delivery date for the first car is the end of January.”

After being presented to the media in the Spanish region of Murcia on Tuesday, Senna is expected to undergo a series of mandatory FIA medical tests on Wednesday.

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

Continued from Part Two

Raikkonen did give Ferrari a win, at Spa, after fending off…Fisichella! On that occasion, however, the Italian was still with Force India, whose Mercedes-powered car showed remarkable form on circuits where low downforce was required. Adrian Sutil proved very fast but wild and accident prone in the other car, but only Raikkonen’s KERS prevented Fisichella from staging a huge upset victory in Belgium. Fisi’s replacement, the underrated Vitantonio Liuzzi, was headed for a podium finish behind the Brawns at Monza when his car broke a driveshaft.

It was also at Spa that yet another scandal was unveiled. In Hungary Renault had been lucky to escape suspension when, only a week after former world champion John Surtees’ 19 year-old son Henry had been killed by an errant wheel in a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch, the French team’s pit crew released Fernando Alonso from a pit stop knowing that the right front wheel had been improperly secured. It came off, and the stewards of the meeting fined them the maximum possible, US$50,000, and suspended them from Valencia.

Renault won their appeal against exclusion, but soon it became clear that they were being investigated for fixing the result of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix following allegations from former driver Nelson Piquet, sacked in July, that he had been told to crash deliberately there to give Alonso the safety car intervention that helped him through to victory. Subsequently, team principal Flavio Briatore was banned indefinitely from the sport, and technical chief Pat Symonds for five years.

Meanwhile, as Renault struggled on and off the track, Toyota’s performances picked up after a mid-season slump. Timo Glock was an excellent second to Hamilton in Singapore, a result that Jarno Trulli repeated on their home ground at Suzuka. That left them fifth overall, which was respectable, while a late-season charge from BMW Sauber, who had introduced a significant aerodynamic and technical upgrade for Singapore, benefited from a second place by Kubica in Brazil and Nick Heidfeld’s fifth in Abu Dhabi to jump ahead of Williams by one and a half points into sixth. The British team had its most consistent season of late, showing well on all but the low-downforce tracks, and would have gone better still had the Toyota engine had competitive horsepower.

Renault were a humbled eighth after one of their toughest-ever seasons yielded just one podium for Alonso, ironically enough in Singapore. Force India might have finished only ninth, but they showed they have the potential to run at or near the front, but Toro Rosso, in 10th overall, showed only flashes of speed with their Red Bull RB5 lookalike STR4. Sebastien Buemi looked good at times, while rookie Jamie Alguersuari replaced Sebastian Bourdais from Hungary onwards.

When Glock crashed in Japan in what would become history’s longest-ever qualifying session, he was subsequently replaced for the final two races by GP2 driver Kamui Kobayashi, who did enough with a ninth and a sixth place finish to make himself unofficial ‘Rookie of the Year’ ahead of Buemi. There were suspicions all along that he had been placed in Glock’s seat by a team that knew they were on borrowed time, and shortly after Bridgestone had announced after Abu Dhabi that they were quitting at the end of 2010, Toyota duly said they were going too, as of now. Like Honda and BMW, they blamed the economic climate and made compelling arguments why they had to stop spending so much on Formula One racing.

That in theory could clear the way for Peter Sauber and his new partner Qadbak to join the four new teams who are due to assemble on the grid in 2010: Lotus, US F1 Team, Manor and Campos Meta.

As yet some key driver placements have yet to be settled, notably whether Button stays with Brawn, and where, if anywhere, Raikkonen goes. The odds favour the second McLaren seat, but you never know with the Finn. With Red Bull staying the same, Alonso at Ferrari alongside Massa, Nico Rosberg and Barrichello being tipped to swap places (the latter is already confirmed at Williams), and Glock reportedly heading to Renault to join Kubica, the new season is already shaping up fast.

And based on what happened in 2009, it is safe to suggest that in the new era of Jean Todt succeeding Max Mosley as President of the FIA after a landslide victory against Ari Vatanen, and refuelling being banned, anything is possible.

The 2009 season has been a rollercoaster ride for McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. From the lows of the opening rounds, where the MP4-24 struggled to make it into the midfield, to the highs of his victories in Hungary and Singapore, it’s been a challenging and rewarding season for Hamilton. Talking to his official website, the British driver evaluates his ’09 campaign and look ahead to 2010…

Q: Let’s look back over the season – it’s been a year of highs and lows, but what has been your highlight?
Lewis Hamilton: I think there are a few moments that will stay with me from this year. The first was at Silverstone, where I arrived knowing that I wouldn’t be able to fight for a win, and where I was just overwhelmed by the amount of support from the people at the circuit. I would never have imagined it would have been such a positive and inspiring weekend for me – even if our results weren’t that great. I’d had such an amazing race at Silverstone in 2008, and it really meant a lot to me to see that people had kept the faith and were behind me even if I couldn’t score a win for them.

On the track, one of my biggest highlights was in Germany, when we tried the upgrade package for the first time. Before I’d even driven the car, you could see that it was a big step – we’d completely changed the front wing, the top body and the floor, and there was a lot of pressure for it to be right – and it looked good, the car looked fantastic. And it only took me a few laps to realise that the car was an incredible improvement. Finally, after months of struggling, I could finally get the car to do what I wanted. I could get it turned in properly, and get hard on the power and just rely on the grip to get me out of a corner. Coming out of the Nurburgring hairpin and heading uphill into the fast esses, I accidentally left my radio switched on, and the whole team could hear me yelling and screaming because the car felt so good! I felt a bit embarrassed afterwards, especially when (team principal) Martin Whitmarsh told me he’d played the recording back to the whole team! But I can see now that that was important for everyone’s morale.

The other highlight was winning in Hungary. I’d always said that winning a race this year was going to feel sweeter than anything else we’d achieved, just because it would be such a satisfying conclusion to all our hard work. And the Hungarian Grand Prix was just a dream come true – to be able to measure my pace over the others and to get the car home first was just unbelievable. Total satisfaction…

Q: Conversely, what was your toughest moment?
LH: There were a few. The first difficulty we faced this year was during testing. We knew the car wasn’t the fastest but, at the Barcelona test in week 11, it became really clear to us that we were struggling and we just didn’t have the pace of the frontrunners. I remember phoning Ron (Dennis) and Martin and explaining to them that we had a lot of work ahead of us if we were going to turn MP4-24 into a race winner. That was a difficult call, but Ron and Martin gave me their full support and we actually started to look at a rescue plan immediately – there was no waiting. So what was a difficult experience at first actually turned into a positive one. The other tough moment happened not long after, in Melbourne and Malaysia. And that was a difficult time for me personally – but I strongly believe that I used that experience to grow as a person and to become stronger through it. I’m a firm believer that every experience you have – even the bad ones – help to define and build your character. You can’t change the past, but you can definitely learn from it, and I overcame that situation in Melbourne, I had the courage and conviction to open up about it in Malaysia and, ultimately, I came out of it stronger.

Q: A few quick questions. What was your favourite circuit this year?
LH: Abu Dhabi was an absolutely incredible place, but the best circuit I visited all year was Suzuka. Monaco still has a very special place in my heart – and it’s totally unique – but Suzuka really is the greatest race track in the world. Also, I can’t not mention Silverstone – the older circuits on the calendar all have this incredible character – places like Silverstone, Monaco, Spa, Monza – they are the best circuits we visit, and we need them on the calendar. I know that Silverstone still isn’t confirmed for 2010 – but it has to be on the calendar, I can’t imagine racing in Formula One without it being there.

Q: Favourite race?
LH: Monza was good fun, but probably either Suzuka or Brazil. I raced my heart out at Suzuka, my battle with Jarno (Trulli) in the first stint was seriously hardcore – it was like doing 20 qualifying laps in a row. But Brazil was even crazier – the car was probably the best it has felt all year and I didn’t stop pushing from the first corner until the last corner. That was probably my best drive of the whole year.

Q: Proudest moment?
LH: Taking the team back to the top step of the podium in Hungary – and then having four weeks before the next race to hold onto it! Seriously, that was the greatest achievement of our season. I’m so proud of everyone who played a role in getting us back to the front. Believe me, we really deserved that result.

Q: What do you take away from this season?
LH: I’ve learnt a lot about effort, dedication, motivation: things that you almost take for granted when you are at the front, but which mean a lot more when you are fighting at the back. I’ve grown as a man, and as a driver – I’ve faced bigger hurdles this year than in my previous two seasons and I think I now know how to cope with things better than I did – even from one year ago. I also think we are a much closer group now, too. We’ve known each other for one more season, and the physical bonds between us all are so much tighter – we’ve been through a lot together and we know each other a lot better. That’s something I really appreciate – and I think that will make us a better fighting unit next season.

Q: What’s next for Lewis Hamilton?
LH: I’m really going to start training hard. I want to start next season fitter than I’ve ever been, and I’ve been working with our team doctor to make sure that I’m better prepared than ever for the New Year. I’ll be training hard, at home in Geneva and in Finland. After that, I’ll have a short break for Christmas – I’m not planning to go away anywhere, but I’ll probably spend it with my family. After that, it will be back to work – meetings with the engineers, the launch and testing the new car – which looks fantastic. To be honest, I’m ready to go racing again next week – at the moment, I think I can safely say that I’m more in love with Formula One than I’ve ever been, and I just can’t wait to get back out there again!

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.

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