2009 FORMULA 1 PREVIEW
The last guy to win back to back F1 world titles was Fernando Alonso, in '05 and '06. That doesn't sound like such a big deal. And yet the last Brit to become a multiple world champion was Jackie Stewart, who won a second world title in 1971 followed by a third in '73. The last time the world championship went to a UK driver two years in a row was when Graham Hill took the 1968 title before Stewart followed up in '96. The last Brit to successfully defend the world championship? Well that has yet to happen and F1 as we know it has been running since 1950. And yet that's the history that Lewis Hamilton(and to a lesser extent Jenson Button) is up against after winning the '08 title. So what dies the landscape look like for the 2009 championship? The title race certainly looks like it's going to be a tight one.
Well we start at McLaren where Lewis and Heikki Kovalainen are paired up for the second year in a row. Lewis may be the defending champions but his environment isn't the most stable. His mentor Ron Dennis has moved upstairs and now Martin Whitmarsh is the main guy in charge of the team. Testing form has also been hit and miss for the defending constructors champions, at one point they weren't even sure they'd be in a position to win races. However they're testing form has since picked up so surely Lewis at least will be in a position to compete for the championship. However with the previously mentioned history going against him, he'll find the going tough.
At Ferrari, Kimi Raikonen and Felippe Massa have been paired up for the third year in a row. Well Kimi picked up the '07 title though had a bad year in '08. Massa came within a slow Toyota of the '08 title. Both of these guys should be considered contenders for the '09 title. No other team can claim to have two dead cert title contenders in their cars and unlike McLaren they have been consistent in testing and Massa in particular will be hungry for a title. Testing form says that Raikonen will be the stronger of the two drivers this time around which is interesting. Both drivers will certainly be under pressure though, some at Marenello apparently want to find a place for Alonso in their 2010 mixer!
Like Ferrari, BMW have retained the same driver lineup for a third year in a row. Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld. Now they were the team that caught everyone on the hop last year, I certainly hadn't banked on Kubica winning a race. In fact if you believe the Pole, the only reason he wasn't a serious contender for the title last year was because the team were focusing on '09. In the short term, well that was a mistake on the team's part. Now '09 is here and Kubica will surely deliver...assuming Lewis and the Ferraris don't have something to say about it. And they will. Kubica can definitely be considered to be in the mixer though, Heidfeld less so.
Next we come to Renault and there are still no changes in the driver lineup. Fernando Alonso is paired up with Nelson Piquet junior. Now Piquet senior may have been a multiple world champion but his kid certainly never looked like he was all that as a rookie. Then again, Alonso got given a reality check as well in '08. However the '09 Renault is meant to have it's uses and though he may he a cocky moron, the Spaniard didn't win two world titles and come close to a third by being a bad driver. And so 2009 is likely to see him back in business with the hope of getting that spot at Ferrari. There are definitely multiple race wins available for him.
Toyota, well they have Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock teaming up for the second year in a row. The change in drivers in '08 didn't seem to help them much and so I suspect we have now found a team that won't win races in '09 barring a miracle. And yet their car has been solid in testing. And there is actually pressure from Japan for the team to pull off a win. With so many possible title contenders this time around though, I see such a result as unlikely. Maybe they'll get the odd podium if a few of the bigger guns have an off day. The worry is that if that's what Toyota get and the suits in Tokyo find it unacceptable, F1 could lose a team, and that would not be good news.
As for Toro Rosso...well given that these guys used to be the ultimate tailenders known as Minardi, they certainly didn't do badly in '08. Slight problem, Sebastian Vettel's gone to Red Bull so that means that Sebastian Bourdais has been paired up with Swiss driver Sebastian Buemi, who will be making his F1 debut off the back of racing in a mix of GP2 and GP2 Asia last year. Given that Bourdais's CART dominance didn't count for a can of smelly gas in F1 last year, well I don't expect the Toro's to be sliding down to the back of the grid but Vettel's win last year is likely to go down as a flash in the pan. They'll get points, but podiums are unlikely.
As for Red Bull, well David Coulthard has left F1 and he will be missed...or will he? The veteran Scot has been signed up as reserve driver for both Red Bull and Toro Rosso so we may not have seen the last of him. The first choice lineup though sees Sebastian Vettel come in from Toro Rosso to pair up with Mark Webber. Well when you have Adrian Newey as a designer there's always the chance he'll come up with a stormer and this may just be it. In fact some people think that Vettel could be a dark horse for the title race. I'm looking elsewhere though, at most Vettel will get himself another win. Maybe Webber will get one too for that matter.
I can remember when Williams were the best in the field...unfortunately for them that was back in the 90s. Still, they've given a second go to Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima. Well if either of those drivers are going to be competitive, it's definitely Rosberg. Testing wise they've had their uses but they're going to be betting large on being able to take advantage of the the technical regs getting overhauled this year. No way in hell are they going to come up with race wins this time around. Instead they're going to be like Toyota. Maybe Rosberg may get the odd podium over the course of the season but I can't see a light at the end of the tunnel for Frank's guys.
Force India are pairing up Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutl for a second season and there is an eyebrow raiser in this corner of the paddock - an alliance with McLaren! No, best I can tell this does not make Force India a McLaren B team but it doesn't possibly make them a bit more competitive. Relatively speaking. Which doesn't count for much. If any team are going to be consistent tailenders this time around it will be these guys. Their drivers may be solid but this bunch getting points will be enough to get my attention. Can't see Fisichella hanging around in F1 much longer either, at most this'll be filed down as another development year.
And finally, here lies Honda F1, buried alive by the credit crunch. Hang on, what's this I see? A fist thrusting out of the ground! It's Brawn GP! Ross Brawn, the guy who was the slyest git in F1 when he was at Ferrari has shaken the dirt off the team he took charge of last year and gotten hold of some Mercedes engines. Of course the Honda '08 lineup of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello are more than happy to have a chance to get on to the '09 grid. Brawn's biggest problem has been a lack of testing. That doesn't seem to have effected them much. Word was that the Honda '09 car was meant to be awesome. Well this is pretty much it. And both drivers have been burning up the test tracks with it. Could we finally see Jenson putting up a title challenge? Or Barrichello turning back the clock? We could well do.
One team we have to say RIP to though is Super Aguri. They tried to run as a Honda B team with an "F1 Japan" image. And then the cash ran out. And then after the first few races of '08, Bernie turned away their trucks as they couldn't pay the race entry fee. Since then, well, best anyone can tell, Sato seems to have no plans whatsoever for '09, Red Bull and Toro Rosso were sniffing around him as a test driver but then decided to go elsewhere. The Japanese driver still hopes to return to F1 at some point though. Anthony Davidson has found himself some work though, he'll be doing commentary work for BBC Radio 5 this year, though it's a bummer that his F! career never really got going.
Who's going to be the 2009 F1 champions though? Hell knows. I daren't dream of Lewis defending his title. You never know though. The smart money...doesn't go down the bookies this year.
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