F1: 2009 Season Review

Formula 1

F1: 2009 Season Review - Red Bull

A review of the 2009 Formula One season for Red Bull...

SPEED Staff | Posted December 03, 2009 Charlotte, NC

Click Here for a look back at the 2009 Red Bull Grand Prix season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Red Bull: Formula One Grand Prix team

Team Principal: Christian Horner

Drivers: Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber

Constructors Finish: 2nd (153.5 points)

Best Finish: 1st (five times) Vettel: China, Britain, Japan, Abu Dhabi Webber: Germany, Brazil

Poles: 5

Chassis: RB5 Engine: Renault RS27

http://www.redbullracing.com/

The 2009 season for Red Bull will be known as the season they went from the back of the pack to a contender and a dogged purser.

A year after finishing seventh in the constructor’s points, the Red Bull team appeared as though they would be late in joining the party after the roll out of the RB5 was delayed until February. Then when the car was finally put on the track, it was able to only run a total of 14 laps before gearbox problems forced the team to stop.

The team finally got the machine in March and was only able to test it once prior to the first race of the season.

As is turned out once they got the RB5 on track, there seemed to be no slowing them down. In just the third race of the season Vettel, proving that his win the year prior at sister team Toro Rosso was no fluke, scored the teams first pole and victory in China. The first of his four wins on the season.

Meanwhile teammate Webber, recovering from a broken leg due to an off season cycling accident, showed promise early and went on to score his first pole and win in Germany. It was Webber’s first Formula One victory since his debut with Minardi in 2002.

Vettel’s win in China broke the early season supremacy of Jenson Button who won the first two events of the season and would go on to win the next four; a string of wins that ended when Vettel denied the Briton an opportunity for victory in the British Grand Prix after the team received an upgrade to the RB5.

The team went on to win the final three races of the season. Vettel scored a victory in Japan a week after a controversial drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding in Singapore dropped him to a fourth place and Webber in Brazil. Vettel closed out the season with a win in the final Grand Prix of 2009 in Abu Dhabi.

Vettel was able to steal second in the drivers points from Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello while Webber finished fourth. The Red Bull drivers had career best seasons and both Vettel and Webber have already signed to remain with the team, Vettel through 2011 and Webber through 2010.

The season results seem even more amazing given the fact that the team was forced to limit some practice sessions as they tried to manage their engine allotment. More importantly Red Bull’s 2009 season showed that they would clearly be contenders in 2010.

PHOTOS: Red Bull 2009 Formula One Grand Prix Season Review