Formula One, My One

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...

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...

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone in June marked the start of the spiral that threatened Button's title aspirations. Another update put the Red Bulls 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...

Well, that was some season! Yet another stunning FIA Formula One World Championship that created a fresh and unexpected chapter of history. Brawn GP, the Phoenix that rose from the ashes of Honda, became the first 'new' team ever to win their first two races and go on to win both the drivers' and constructors' titles. They won eight races, took four one-twos and 15 podiums, though they didn' t have it all their own way...

When race fans look back on 2009, they will describe it as the year of the underdog. While the usual frontrunners took a back seat, newcomers Brawn GP won both championships with fellow upstarts Red Bull hard on their heels all the way. For Red Bull's Christian Horner, the season's end brings mixed feelings. Yes, they achieved more than they'd hoped for, but they also lost out on both titles. For Horner the only response is to look ahead to 2010, so listen up Red Bull's rivals and watch out

Following the well-trodden path of most great drivers, Nico Hulkenberg began his career on the kart track. After starting at the tender age of ten back in 1997, within five years Hulkenberg was already making waves. In 2002 he was named German junior karting champion and the following year, after progressing up the ranks, won the German karting championship proper. Sixteen years earlier, a young Michael Schumacher had clinched the very same title. It was a fact not lost on Schumacher's legendary manager Willi Weber, who promptly signed up the young lad from Emmerich. By 2004 Hulkenberg had added an Italian Junior Championship to his list of achievements and Weber began looking for a way into single-seater racing for his young protege.

When the news broke that Williams had signed reigning GP2 champion Nico Hulkenberg to partner Rubens Barrichello in 2010, it didn't surprise many paddock insiders. After the departure of his namesake Rosberg, it's not simply a case of the team favouring drivers called Nico. Hulkenberg tested for them last winter and has been busy in various roles in their UK factory since March. More importantly perhaps, the 22 year-old German is the latest protege of Michael Schumacher's manager Willi Weber. Has the legendary talent spotter hit gold again?

After being hailed as a future champion on his F1 debut in 2000, it took ten attempts before Jenson Button finally won his maiden title at October's Brazilian Grand Prix. But having the stamina to hold on to hope in the face of adversity is just as worthy as succeeding from the start - or so Formula One Management CEO Bernie Ecclestone believes. 'Big boss' Ecclestone, as Button calls him, and the newly-crowned world champion reminisce about when they first met and reflect on the past season...

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher proved a winning combination during the first day of action at this year's Race of Champions (ROC) event in Beijing on Tuesday. The duo clinched their third successive Nations Cup victory for Germany in the Chinese city's spectacular Bird's Nest stadium, after beating the Team GB pairing of new Formula One world champion Jenson Button and World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx in the finals...

For Williams the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a disappointing finale to a successful season. The British team have scored more points this year (34.5) than they have since 2005, but their ninth and 13th place finishes for outgoing drivers Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima at Yas Marina were far from representative of the FW31's pace over the course of 2009. Rod Nelson, the team's chief operations engineer, discusses what went wrong in Abu Dhabi and looks ahead to the winter break and 2010

Toyota will be absent from the grid next season after the team's parent company announced its withdrawal from Formula One racing on Wednesday. The team had been competing since 2002. In that time they scored three pole positions, three fastest laps, 13 podiums and 278.5 points, though never that elusive win. Current race drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock both hope to find seats elsewhere for 2010...

The contest for the 2009 season's DHL Fastest Lap Trophy was decided on the penultimate lap of Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix when eventual winner Sebastian Vettel posted the fastest lap of the Yas Marina race. Vettel's quick lap of 1m 40.279s in Abu Dhabi meant that he had equalled team mate Mark Webber's tally of three fastest laps over the course of the season. And after the duo's number of second fastest laps were taken into account, the young German driver came out in front of his Australian counterpart in the standings by three to one.

If Kamui Kobayashi's bold performance in Brazil during his debut for Toyota had been a surprise, then his second-ever Formula One race in Abu Dhabi on Sunday was nothing short of brilliant. From 12th on the grid, Kobayashi made the most of his one-stop strategy to finish in sixth, ahead of veteran team mate Jarno Trulli. Here the 23 year-old Japanese driver reflects on his Yas Marina race

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has lauded their 2009 campaign and promised to come back even stronger in 2010. In only their fifth season of Formula One racing, the team finished second in both drivers' and constructors' championships and ended their year on a high with a one-two victory in Abu Dhabi. “Second is a fantastic achievement for the team,” said Horner. “To have achieved 16 podiums, six wins, five pole positions and six fastest laps - including four one-two finishes - as well as in excess of 150 points, is a massive achievement.”

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel started 2009 hoping for wins and finished it coming closer than anyone to beating Jenson Button to the title. Vettel says he has grown as a driver as a result, but makes no secret of his anger at losing out - at those missed opportunities and small, but costly mistakes. At least his win at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix served as some consolation - and as a reminder of just what an excellent season he and Red Bull have had, despite both titles slipping through their fingers

They may not have won either championship, but they did dominate the latter part of the 2009 season. Sebastian Vettel's imperious performance at Yas Marina gave Red Bull Racing their third win on the trot, with Mark Webber's second place securing their fourth one-two of the year. But it wasn't only Red Bull celebrating on Sunday night. The inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - F1 racing's first twilight event - was deemed a huge success by all concerned and threw up some thrilling action...

Williams will have an all-new race line-up next season, with Rubens Barrichello moving from Brawn GP to partner Williams tester and reigning GP2 champion Nico Hulkenberg. They replace Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima, neither of whom has announced a confirmed drive for 2010. “Rubens needs no introduction,” team boss Frank Williams said of Barrichello, who is set to become the first man to start 300 Grands Prix next season...

Formula One racing is set to use a new tyre supplier from 2011 after Bridgestone announced on Monday that they will not be renewing their current contract when it expires at the end of 2010. Bridgestone have been participating in the sport since 1997, winning 156 Grands Prix, 10 drivers' and 10 constructors' titles. They became the official sole supplier to the championship in 2008...

After being drafted in to replace an injured Timo Glock at the final two races of the season, relatively little was expected from Toyota third driver Kamui Kobayashi. But it seems Kobyashi had other ideas, and this weekend in Abu Dhabi he has soundly stamped his mark on Formula One racing, thereby making a very persuasive play for a permanent seat in 2010. While at Interlagos two weeks ago he finished just outside the top eight, at the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday the 23 year-old went one better, clinching his very first world championship points after a strong drive from 12th. He eventually finished in sixth, ahead of veteran team mate Jarno Trulli.

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...

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 senior team personnel report back on Sunday's race action

Once a brake problem slowed McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel had no competition in Sunday evening's inaugural day/night Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. A brilliant win cemented his second place in the drivers' world championship behind Brawn GP's Jenson Button, who enlivened the end of the race with a superb challenge to second-placed Red Bull of Mark Webber in the closing stages...

Like Monaco and Singapore, Abu Dhabi drew celebrities and Middle Eastern royalty like a magnet as the dramatic Yas Marina Circuit was adjudged a huge success. Beyonce returned to Formula One after her appearance in Singapore, and was joined by fellow musical stars Kings of Leon, Aerosmith, the Wailers and Jamiroquai, together with rapper Timbaland. And even US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton paid a brief visit, as did American basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar...

Welcome to race day for the 17th and final round of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship, the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit. It will be partially cloudy to begin with, with an ambient temperature high of 36 degrees Celsius, which will fall to 31 as the race progresses into the evening...

Red Bull's Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel came alive in the dying moments of the final qualifying session of 2009, but McLaren's Lewis Hamilton kept his nerve and ultimately decimated their chances of taking pole position for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a lap of 1m 40.948s on Saturday evening. Vettel had moments before beaten Webber's 1m 41.726s best with 1m 41.615s. Behind them, Rubens Barrichello finally got ahead of Brawn team mate Jenson Button as they lapped in 1m 41.786s and 1m 41.892s...

The first day/night qualifying session proved a complete success on the dramatic new Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, where Lewis Hamilton's pace in the McLaren surprised Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. This trio seems to have a small but crucial advantage over the Brawn duo of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button. For the record, the fuel weights were: Hamilton, 658.5 kg; Vettel 663, Webber 660, Barrichello 655, Button 657, Toyota's Jarno Trulli 661, BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica 654.5, BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld 664, Williams' Nico Rosberg 665 and Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi 661.5.