Driver Review of the Year

Simple really. Mark out of ten, then brief plus points and negative points.

1- Jensen Button -Brawn GP World Champion 94 points.6 Wins,9 total podiums. 9/10

Uttertly brilliant first 7 races, simply impeccable. Damage limitation trough the summer thanks to consistant race pace and excellent overtakes throughout the year. Brilliant drive in Brazil. Easily man of the year.

2- Lewis Hamilton - Mclaren Mercedes 5th place. 49 points. 2 wins,5 total podiums. 8/10

Drove better than in 2008. Involved in team lie-gate scandal. Not all his fault. Got his head down and just drove the car faster than anyone else could. Never say die attitude, very evident in Monza. Destroyed Heikki Kovalainen's career.

3- Nico Rosberg - Williams Toyota, 6th place. 34.5 points. Best finish 4th 8/10

Superb season from the German. Only one main error in Singapore which cost certain podium. Fast througout the season. Suffered horribly on option tyres in Australia and on wet tryes in Malaysia which also cost podiums. Very unlucky not to have a podium. Deserves better next year.

4- Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Renault - 2nd Place, 84points, 4 wins 8 total podiums 8/10

This guy is brilliant. Super fast and the best qualifyer of the season. Only man other than Button to win more than twice. Brilliant in the rain. Inexperienced though and mistakes cost him title, lost podium in Melbourne with crash and points in Monaco with a crash.

5- Mark Webber - Red Bull Renault - 4th Place,69.5 points, 2 wins, 8 total podiums

Best season yet from the Aussie, most dominant win of anyone in Germany. Brilliant recovery from leg break in november. A few qualy issues saw him get beaten too often by Vettel but has better racecraft and race pace overall.

6- Rubens Barrichello - Brawn GP 3rd Place, 77points, 2 wins, 6 total podiums 7.5/10

A great comeback season littered with too many problems. Rubens is far too sensitive a driver, particularly with brakes and clutch controls. Bad starts in Melbourne, Turkey and Spa cost big points. Could not beat Button often enough. Good on his day, doesnt have enough days.

7- Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari, 6th Place, 48 points, 1 win,5 total podiums. 7/10

Always an enigma, took a while to get to grips with Ferrari. Excellent in aftermath of Massa's accident. Just drove the thing to four podiums including win at his favourite spa circuit. Did what he could when team stopped development.

8- Felipe Massa, Ferrari,11th Place, 22points, (Started 10 races)1podium (3rd). 7/10

Up untill his accident he destroyed Raikkonen 22 points to ten. But then the horror accident in Hungary ended his season and Raikkonen picked up a gear. Got the most out of Ferrari untill his crash and should be as good as ever next year.

9- Fernando Alonso - Renault, 9th Place, 26points, 1 podium (3rd) 7/10

Fernando got what few people could out of the 2009 Renault. 26 points, and a podium. It was slow, inconsistent, unreliable and tricky to set up. His podium in Singapore was more about the driver than the car. Maybe not Alonso's finest season but still one of the best drivers in the field. Did well to get points early in the season.

10- Sebastien Buemi, Torro Rosso, 16th Place, 6 points. 0 podiums. 7/10

Excellent debut season from the Rookie. Often kept out of trouble and scored points in 2 of first 3 races. Awesome in China to qualify in top 10 and finish in 8th. Rounded off season with strong trouble free drives to points in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

11 - Jarno Trulli - Toyota 8th Place, 32.5 points, 3 podiums. 6.5/10

A difficult year for Jarno, he and the car were inconsistent. Failed to take advantage of the car's speed early in the year. And surely should have won in Bahrain but for a poor tyre choice by the team. Really struggled to get the car to work each weekend. Car was as good if not better than 2008 and yet scored fewer points.

12- Nick Heidfeld - BMW - 13th place, 19 points, 1 podium 6.5/10

Tough times for Nick. For most of the season the car was terrible, and only an excellent tyre decision in Malaysia gave him a lucky 7th place. Nevertheless, got more out of the car than Kubica did. Excellent again at strong race performances, bringing the car home at miminum where it should be.

13- Adrian Sutil - Force India Mercedes - 17th place, 5 points, Best finish 4th. 6.5/10

Mr Unlucky of 2009. So often when things were going well they would go wrong. In China he dropped it on a drying track on wet tyres when in 6th place. In spa he was on Fisichella's pace but failed to get through q2. In Germany he was on for at least top 7 when he collided with Raikkonen. Got his first deserved points in Monza with 4th. Excellent qualy in Japan and Brazil ruined by a steward penalty and Jarno Trulli.
So much better than results suggests. Gotta keep out of trouble.

14- Robert Kubica, BMW 14th place, 17points. 1 podium. 6.5/10

After publicly saying he wated BMW to continue development on their 08 car last year when in the title hunt, he would not have been impressed to see that the 09 car was crap. Excellent in Australia untill crash with Vettel. Good in qualy in Malaysia and fantastic in Brazil. Heidfeld got more out of the car more often. Will hope to form Alonso-esque bond with Renault.

15- Timo Glock, Toyota 10th Place, 24 points, (Started 14 races) 6.5/10

Failed to build on promising 2008. Again strong in the race but needs to start higher up to make it count. Did not get as much out of the car as Trulli and again struggled with car's inconsistancy. Big failure in Barain. Injured in crash in Suzuka after lucky podium in Singapore.

16- Giancarlo Fisichella, 15th place, 8 points, 1 podium, 12 races- Force India, 5 races-Ferrari. 6/10

Often out performed by Sutil at Force India. Flash of speed in Monaco for 9th place finish. Was fantastic at Spa, pole and should of have the win. Struggled to adapt to Ferrari but did a reasonable job.

17- Heikki Kovalainen,Mclaren Mercedes 12th place, 22points. 0 Podiums 6/10

Very poor season from Heikki and he will be lucky to be at Mclaren next year. Could not get near Hamilton all year. Too many errors, too inconsistent. Often went backwards at start of races.

18- Vitantonio Liuzzi,Force India Mercedes 22nd 0points best finish 11th. 5 Races, 0 podiums 6/10

Bought in to replace Fisichella who joined Ferrari. Excellent at Monza and oncourse for points untill retirement. Struggled at Singapore and Japan, better at Brazil and beat Sutil in Ahu Dhabi. Could well be kept on in 2010.

19- Kamui Kobayashi,Toyota 18th Place, 3 points, 2 races. 0 podiums, 6/10

2 races to showcase his talents, and he did just that. Very impressive, if abit wayward defending in Brazil, and pace was not bad. Excellent in Abu Dhabi to finish ahead of Trulli while on a one stop strategy. Likely to be kept on in 2010.

20- Kazuki Nakajima, Williams Toyota. 20th Place 0 points, best finish 9th. 5/10

2009 showed his limitations. Points last year came in high attrition races. Should of had points in Turkey. 5th on grid in Silverstone but not fast enough and finished 9th. Quick at times, but nowhere near quick consistently enough. Destroyed by Rosberg.

21- N.Piquet Jnr, Renault, 21st place, 0points, 10 races. Best finish 10th. 5/10

Struggled with rubbish Renault and Alonso's ability to get points. Could not find the pace of Alonso at all. High pressure at Renault maybe not for him. Reputation ruined by Crash-gate.

22- Sebastian Bourdais, Torro Rosso Ferrari, 2 Points, 9 races. 5/10

Showed flashes of pace in 2008, but easily beaten by rookie Buemi and complained too often. Couldn't get his head down and just focus.

23- Luca Badoer - Ferrari, 25th place, 0 points, 2 races. 4.5/10

Thrown in at the deep end after Michael Schumacher's withdrawal to replace Massa. Did an ok job but really needed to go find the limit a lot more. Too conservative.

24- Jamie Algasuari - Torro Rosso- 24th place. 0 points. 8 Races. 4.5/10

Not a bad start. Often kept it out of trouble. Slowly learning the ropes but was quite far off Buemi's pace. Needs to improve.

25- Roman Grosjean - Renault, 23rd Place, 0 points, 7 races. 4.5/10.

Arguably worse than Piquet. He was just as slow. Spun more often and spent much more time going backwards through the field. Piquet was far more competitive. Really struggled with f1.