Complete calendar with 17 races
The 2009 Formula 1 season produced one of the greatest fairy tales in motorsport history as Brawn GP - a team that almost didn't exist - rose from Honda's withdrawal to claim both World Championships with Jenson Button becoming champion. The season marked a technical revolution with radical new aerodynamic regulations aimed at improving overtaking, leading to dramatic shifts in the competitive order and one of the most unpredictable campaigns in decades. Button's championship triumph vindicated years of loyalty and patience, transforming him from perennial nearly-man to World Champion in spectacular fashion.
Brawn GP's emergence represented an against-all-odds survival story. When Honda withdrew from Formula 1 in December 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis, team principal Ross Brawn led a management buyout for a symbolic £1, rebranding the team and securing Mercedes engines. Working with a skeleton staff on a shoestring budget, Brawn's technical team - led by aerodynamicist Loic Bigois - developed an innovative double-diffuser interpretation of the new regulations that provided a massive performance advantage. The BGP 001, essentially Honda's RA109 with modifications, proved devastatingly quick in the season's opening races.
Button's dominance in the first half of the season was absolute. He won six of the first seven races including victories in Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain, Monaco, and Turkey, building a commanding championship lead while rivals scrambled to develop their own double-diffusers. His performances combined brilliant racecraft with flawless consistency, finally showcasing the talent that had been trapped in uncompetitive machinery for years. The sight of the white-and-fluorescent yellow Brawns crushing established giants captured imaginations worldwide and created one of F1's most romantic underdog stories.
The championship battle intensified dramatically in the second half when Red Bull Racing's upgrade program bore fruit. Sebastian Vettel won four races including brilliant victories at Britain, Japan, and Abu Dhabi, mounting a serious title challenge that reduced Button's lead from 32 points to just 14 with two races remaining. The young German's speed and the Red Bull RB5's late-season pace made him a genuine threat, while Mark Webber added two victories of his own in Germany and Brazil. Red Bull's resurgence showcased their emerging status as a top team and foreshadowed their future dominance.
Button clinched the championship with a masterful fifth-place finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix, securing the title with one race remaining despite not winning since Turkey in June. His relief and emotion at finally achieving his childhood dream - after nine winless seasons in F1 - created one of the sport's most heartwarming moments. Rubens Barrichello provided excellent support throughout the season, winning at Valencia and Monza and finishing third in the championship, proving that Brawn's success was no fluke and that their double-diffuser advantage had been legitimate.
The double-diffuser controversy dominated the early season. Brawn, Toyota, and Williams interpreted the new aerodynamic regulations to allow additional diffuser channels that massively increased downforce. Rivals protested vehemently, but the FIA declared the design legal, forcing teams like Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull to rush their own versions into development. This technical scramble created one of F1's most dramatic mid-season performance swings, with the early-season order completely inverted by the final races as the big-budget teams caught up and surpassed the diffuser pioneers.
McLaren-Mercedes endured their worst season in decades despite having Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen. Hamilton won twice at Hungary and Singapore, but the MP4-24's fundamental design flaws left them struggling in midfield for much of the year. Ferrari suffered even more dramatically, with Kimi Räikkönen winning just once at Spa-Francorchamps and the F60 proving hopelessly uncompetitive - their worst season since 1993. The Scuderia's struggles marked the end of their championship-winning era and led to Räikkönen's departure. Felipe Massa's horrifying qualifying accident at Hungary, where a suspension spring struck his helmet causing life-threatening injuries, overshadowed Ferrari's season and nearly cost the Brazilian his career.
Renault's season was defined by the Crashgate scandal fallout. Fernando Alonso finished fourth in the championship with podiums but no wins, while the team faced intense scrutiny following revelations that they had orchestrated Nelson Piquet Jr.'s deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. Team principal Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds received lifetime bans (later overturned), and Renault's reputation was severely damaged. The scandal prompted ING to end their sponsorship and accelerated Alonso's move to Ferrari for 2010.
The season witnessed several significant storylines beyond Brawn's fairy tale. BMW Sauber's championship challenge never materialized after their premature focus on 2009, and they announced their withdrawal by year's end. Toyota finished fourth in the constructors' championship - their best-ever result - with Jarno Trulli regularly on the podium, but they too withdrew at season's end citing the economic crisis. Force India scored their first podium with Giancarlo Fisichella's stunning second place at Spa, while Robert Kubica moved to Renault and impressed with a podium at Brazil.
The introduction of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) added technological intrigue, with some teams adopting the hybrid technology while others - including Brawn - chose to focus resources elsewhere. The divided approach created strategic variations and occasional on-track advantages, foreshadowing F1's future hybrid era. Slick tires returned after seventeen years of grooved rubber, while refueling was banned for 2010, marking significant regulatory evolution.
Brawn GP's championship double came with just 172 employees and a budget dwarfed by their rivals, making it one of the greatest achievements in F1 history. However, financial reality meant the team's independence was short-lived - Mercedes purchased Brawn at season's end, rebranding as Mercedes GP for 2010 and beginning their own journey toward championship success. For Button, the title validated his decade-long faith that his opportunity would come, while for Ross Brawn, it added another championship to his legendary resume. The 2009 season proved that in Formula 1, sometimes the greatest stories are written by the most unlikely heroes, and that technical innovation and brilliant execution can triumph over unlimited budgets and establishment power.