Some teams were much more prepared than others. McLaren and Ferrari were locked in a tight title fight in 2008, and their focus was on beating the other for glory. The beginning of their seasons were particularly bad, relegated to being midfield teams. Red Bull saw their opportunity to utilise Adrian Newey's talents and they created a great car, but it was the Honda who would be the best prepared, but they nearly didn't compete at all.
Honda had decided to pull out of the sport, but Ross Brawn, fresh from a sabbatical from the dominating Ferrari years, and Nick Fry knew the potential they had in their car. Faced with massive redundancies, Fry and Brawn managed to buy the team and their entry fee waived considering the circumstances.
Brawn, as well as Williams and Toyota had stumbled upon a loophole in the regulations, the double-diffuser. Brawn's car was better built around the concept and their car were a league apart from the competition. It took a few races for the FIA to deem the concept legal, before other teams started fitting their own solutions. Jenson Button, who had only won a single Grand Prix up to this season, took six victories in seven races. At the Chinese Grand Prix, Red Bull took their first victory as a team with Sebastian Vettel leading a one-two finish ahead of Mark Webber.
However, whilst the double diffuser was the major news worthy concept that people thought made the difference, actually the bigger difference was the front wing (and endplate) outwash (a big talking point in the change for the 2019 regulation changes). The front wing is the first thing the air hits on the car, and managing the wake from the front tyre is also a key battleground for aero. So what you do with the air at the front wing endplates is all important. So whilst teams spent weeks trying to introduce a double diffuser concept, a new front wing could have been made in a few weeks. All the front running teams in 2009 were teams who had cracked that outwash front wings were the way to go. Frank Dernie, who had indycar experience, identified this early on and was a key reason to Toyota's competitive start of the season. McLaren only introduced the outwash concept at the Hungarian GP, where unsurprisingly, they began being competitive.
By mid-season, it was Red Bull who were in the ascendancy, and Barrichello was performing better than Button. Even Ferrari won a race, as did a resurgent McLaren towards the end of the season. But it was all too little too late, and Button and Brawn were crowned champions, a true fairy-tale story.
Brawn, formerly Honda, formerly BAR, formerly Tyrrell were to be bought out by Mercedes who are dominating the sport today.
Sadly, it was time when manufacturers were leaving the sport at a high rate, with Toyota and BMW leaving the sport at the end of the season, with Honda having left the season before, and their B team, Super Aguri not even completing the 2008 season.
Felipe Massa had a near fatal injury at the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, missing the remainder of the season. Thankfully he would return to full fitness in 2010. Luca Badoer, having been out of the sport for about a decade, but long-term faithful Ferrari test driver drove the difficult Ferrari for a few races, and, it didn't go well. Giancarlo Fisichella, impressing with a podium finish in a Force India at Spa took over the 2nd Ferrari seat, but he couldn't get close to Kimi Raikkonen either.
Spygate all came to a head during the 2009 season, when Nelson Piquet Jnr was dropped by Renault after another disappointing season, despite impressing at the German GP. Piquet revealed how he deliberately crashed at the 2008 Singapore GP allowing his team-mate to make use of strategy to win the race. A young Romain Grosjean took his seat for the remainder of the year, similarly struggling to impress, and nearly retired from motorsport altogether.
2009 was a fascinating year and it's so rare for an underdog story to come good. It's almost unthinkable these days to find the top teams being caught out and fighting near the back of the field. It was the last year when there were a number of true manufacturer teams.
2009 Drivers World Champion: Jenson Button
2009 Constructors' World Champion: Brawn GP
In the world of 1/43 models, Minichamps pretty much had a monopoly on 2009 cars, and not too many special versions. Not all drivers got a model either. However there are some alternatives.
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BMW Sauber
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Brawn Mercedes
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Ferrari
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Force India Mercedes
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McLaren Mercedes
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Red Bull Renault
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Renault
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Toro Rosso Ferrari
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Toyota
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Williams Toyota
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