F1 End-Of-Season Still Image: The Resurrection Of The Dead

"Me, I'm the best" boasted a radiant Jenson Button when asked two months ago in an interview for GQ Magazine on his opinion on the greatest driver in racing history. "It doesn't matter who wins if I don't. I only care if I win".

For sure Mr. Button should be rethinking now the words which flowed out from his lips at that time, for whatever happened after he said them, he have only managed to claim 8 out of 40 points available in the last 4 races.

And even though his downslope could be somehow explained by a sudden decrease in the Brawn-Mercedes' performance against their rivals, the latest two races have shown us that the technical issue have been mostly solved, but the man just can't find the pace he enjoyed at the beginning of the season.

In fact, it seems that Barrichello borrowed a part of whatever Button had before, and is now the one touched with grace.

Anyway, this F1 season is growing with excitement not only because it entered its final stage, but also because the protagonists are different each race that pass and moreover, they seem to been pulled out from the list of drivers that in previous seasons were resting in the calmly peace of the middle-bottom side of the table.

In the eve of the 2009 season starting, almost all the media around was speculating on a tournament where the names of Hamilton, Raikonnen, Massa, Kubica, Kovalainen, Vettel and Alonso were regarded as the main contenders.

Instead of this, whomever take a look now at a F1 leaderboard and discover the names of Button, Barrichello and Webber flashing brightly in the first positions, will understandingly conclude: but this is a miracle.

Moreover, staring at the name of the scintillating winner of the last pole position and second placed at Spa Francochamps, one is tempted to say: indeed, this is a resurrection. I'm sure some people didn't even know that Fisichella was still racing.

But yes, he is, and look what, he's not dead, but more alive now than ever. While helping the indian-owned team to achieve its first pole position and gain its first F1 points ever, the italian gave himself a huge and deserved dose of self-esteem, after years of anonymous roaming and plenty of ill-disposed and critical comments against him.

Meanwhile, Raikonnen, another who was counted among the dead this season (at least for the scuderia fans), has sent a clear message to his detractors by claiming an exciting Belgian grand prix: hey, i'm still up. Those who want his head off and Alonso's one placed instead, will have now to wait and see, for the Finnish is improving race by race -luckily for Ferrari- who are surely through one of the worst seasons in their brilliant history.

And i'm afraid the so far terrible selection of Luca Badoer as replacement for Massa is not helping in any way.

Almost the same we can say about Renault’s choice of Grosjean instead of Nelsinho Piquet: After two races, it’s difficult to see in which way is Grosjean helping Renault more than Nelsinho was, while the Brazilian -enraged by his sudden sacking- has stunned his former employer with some incendiary declarations that, prompting an investigation from the FIA, might seriously threaten the future of the French team within the F1, or Piquet’s one, if the inquiry turns out to be false.

At the same time, twice world champion Fernando Alonso, dealing more and more with increasing frustration, should be asking himself why the Renault engine seems to work much better in Red Bull’s cars than in Renault’s ones, even though the French team has more budget and experience than their modest Austrian counterpart. But that’s life, isn’t it?

At the edge of the disillusionment lay two teams which promised much more at the beginning of the season than what their actual outcome reflects: we speak both of Toyota and BMW.

The Japanese team has one of the biggest -if not the biggest- budget in F1, and despite this and having almost a decade of experience at the top racing category, they’re still struggling to be competitive, not having won a race yet in the big circus. In contrast, with only two years and with considerably less budget, Force India has grabbed a pole and almost caressed a victory. Ironies of destiny, or just profitable team-work? 

In the other hand, BMW-Sauber F1 team can boast of having one of the most promissory drivers available (Kubica), and since they achieved a remarkable third place in the last constructor’s championship, we were invited to think this could be their consecrating season.

Far from that, they’ve been anything but successful in this one, and right now they lay 7th in the table, two points ahead of Renault and distant from the top positions. It has been so unsatisfactory their outcome in all senses, that the team announced its retirement at the end of the championship, allegedly to focus in other motorsports, but in fact I believe they can’t conceal their displeasing for how things have ran so far.

Predictions? I hardly believe there’s someone who can venture to express one. Although it began as a tedious, boring monologue of just one team, many factors have contributed to turn this 2009 tournament into a quite open contest where at least four drivers have open chances to win it, and three more need a little help from fate.

There have been six different winners in the last six races, and while mathematically people like Hamilton can still dream of overcoming a tortuous path, if we continue to witness this shuffle of cards each race that pass, the only winner will be the stumbling and lately disappeared still-leader of it, who is now clinched to his advantage like someone grabbing with bare fingers a blazing nail.