F1 2009 : Suddenly I See

Back in the year 2000, Jensen Button arrived in F1 to quite a fanfare. He was just 20 years old, and British commentators waxed lyrical about what a megastar of the track he was to become.

It never happened.

Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, and Lewis Hamilton have come into F1 after Button, and all three have become champions while he has languished as an also-ran.

Now though, Honda F1 have been transformed into Brawn GP, and have looked blindingly fast in testing. This will be Jensen's big year, when at last behind the wheel of a decent car he will show us what he can do.

Or maybe not.

We have seen teams post startling times in pre-season testing before, only to disappoint when racing starts. So have Brawn got a winning car, or have they not? And if they have, will Jensen be the driver to score in it, or will Rubens Barichello steal the show?

I don't know.

This year we may see the most promising teams and drivers of 2007/8 deliver real results. It is time for the old guard of Ferrari, McLaren, and Renault to be swept away, as Brawn, BMW, and Toyota lead the field, and Robert Kubica takes the honours almost everyone thinks he deserves.

Yet only a fool would ever underestimate the strength of Ferrari and McLaren. They have the experience and the resources to slap down the new pretenders, and Ferrari have possibly the best two drivers in F1.

On the other hand, as recently as 2006 McLaren scored no wins at all, and Ferrari too have had many poor seasons over the years.

So is to be fresh faces at the front, or Lewis battling his familiar foes?

I don't know.

The change to driver championship by wins has been abandoned after loud screaming noises from the teams and their FOTA organisation. But there is still some hope of more exciting racing because of the aero changes that are meant to make overtaking easier.

Or those changes will make no difference, because hazardous wheel-to-wheel jostling is simply not going to be tolerated by the stewards. The days of Senna and Mansell are long behind us. In any case, teams will still have an eye on the constructors championship, and will not look kindly on drivers who drop points in the heat of battle.

So it's exciting track action to come, or the same dull processions as before.

I don't know.

KERS is yet another confusing ingredient in the 2009 F1 recipe.

It's a common-sense method of recovering braking energy for use as an overtaking boost.

Or it's an expensive and unnecessary complication that adds weight and might be hazardous.

I don't know.

The dice are still rolling, and suddenly I see that I've no idea how F1 2009 is going to pan out.

But hot-diggity-damn, I am looking forward to it.