2009 Formula One World Championship
Alguersuari had been racing in Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2009, and had only signed a deal to replace Brendon Hartley as Toro Rosso's test driver two weeks prior.
In qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix, Toyota's Timo Glock crashed heavily at the last corner and was airlifted to hospital with a leg injury.
[37] Also introduced were slick tyres and Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems, as well as implementing cost-cutting measures in a response to the rising costs of competing.
Force India joined Brawn GP in using the Mercedes engines by signing a five-year deal until 2013, having ended their previous supply contract from Ferrari.
[52] The retirement of Red Bull Racing driver David Coulthard led to the appointment of Sebastian Vettel as his replacement,[53] who left the Scuderia Toro Rosso team after a successful previous season including winning the Italian Grand Prix.
[45] The teams were less successful in their attempts to have the long-running French and Canadian Grands Prix kept on the calendar,[55] with the organisers of both events pulling out due to financial issues.
[56][57][58] The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix made its debut appearance as the last round of the season, at the Hermann Tilke-designed Yas Marina Circuit.
At the other end of the timing sheets, reigning champion Lewis Hamilton's McLaren team were struggling to adapt to the new regulations, often 1.5 seconds off the pace.
[69] On the Wednesday of the season opening race in Australia, an official complaint was launched by the seven other teams against the rear diffusers of the Williams FW31, Toyota TF109 and the Brawn BGP 001 saying that they were illegal.
[72] The season opened at the Australian Grand Prix, won by Jenson Button with teammate Rubens Barrichello in second, giving the team a 1–2 on its début.
The accident meant the race finished behind the safety car, with Toyota's Jarno Trulli eventually classified third despite McLaren's false protest he had illegally overtaken Lewis Hamilton.
[73] Reigning champion Hamilton was disqualified from the Australian race for lying to the stewards and at the following Malaysian Grand Prix there were reports he was on the verge of quitting.
Button mastered the changing conditions for his second win, while quick starting Nico Rosberg dropped to eighth when the race was stopped.
Dry conditions at Bahrain saw the Toyota team gain the front of the grid, but Button managed to fight up from a fourth-place start, and overtook race leader Timo Glock on his first pit stop.
[77] The Spanish Grand Prix was a battle between the Brawn teammates, with Barrichello getting ahead of polesitter Button while a first lap incident forced the retirement of four drivers.
Button won in dominant fashion at Monaco, leading the majority of the race from pole position ahead of his teammate Barrichello and Räikkönen, who scored Ferrari's first podium in 2009.
Barrichello's car developed a gearbox problem, and incidents with Heikki Kovalainen and Adrian Sutil resulted in Brawn's first retirement of the season.
[79] The British Grand Prix was seen as a turning point, being dominated by Red Bull with Vettel leading home Webber, in dry conditions.
Jaime Alguersuari finished his début race ahead of Buemi, the Toro Rosso test driver replacing the fired Sébastien Bourdais.
[81] Post-race, the Renault team received a suspension for the European Grand Prix, for an incident where Alonso's tyre came loose on the race track following a pit-stop error.
[83] During the summer break, BMW Sauber announced their withdrawal from Formula One racing due to poor results and lack of financial sustainability.
[88] The European Grand Prix in Valencia provided the first win for Rubens Barrichello after Hamilton lost the lead with an error in the pits;[89] he finished second while both Red Bulls failed to score.
At the Belgian Grand Prix Giancarlo Fisichella gained Force India's first pole position, and his second-place finish behind Kimi Räikkönen gave their first points.
Toyota teammate Glock was injured during qualifying, and a cracked vertebra meant he was replaced by reserve Kamui Kobayashi for the final two races.
In a scandal dubbed "Crashgate" by the media, allegations of race-fixing during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix emerged during the second half of the 2009 season from former Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. Over the course of the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, Piquet, who had been sacked weeks earlier by Renault, claimed he was asked to crash at the Singapore race in a strategy designed to aid teammate and eventual race winner Fernando Alonso.
