In our final team review of 2009 we turn our attention to Brawn GP, whose odyssey from near-extinction to title glory was one of Formula 1’s most improbable and feel-good stories in many years.
Even now it's hard to believe that the tale of Brawn GP really happened.
Miracles and fairytales are supposed to have no place in modern Formula 1, yet 2009 saw a team that had been on the brink of closure following several years of woeful underachievement suddenly blossom into a dominant championship outfit.
It was an incredible story, and, despite a few late-season scares, it had a happy ending too as Jenson Button and Brawn clinched the drivers' and constructors' championships with a race to spare.
In reality though, there wasn't really any magic behind what Brawn achieved this year.
Honda had given up on its 2008 car almost before it turned a wheel and thrown its massive technical resources and Ross Brawn's equally enormous wisdom at the mission of getting a big head start on the hugely different '09 rules.
Crucially, it led the way with the controversial double diffuser layout – not only fitting one, but optimising the whole design around it.
So Honda's decision to quit the sport was all the more frustrating for Brawn and Nick Fry, who knew they had a potentially winning car on their hands, but that it might never race.
The team kept working through the months of uncertainty and rumour that followed, as everyone from Prodrive to Mexican billionaires and Richard Branson (whose Virgin brand eventually came on board as a sponsor) was mentioned as a potential saviour.
In the end it was Brawn and Fry themselves who came through, determined not to let the team's efforts go to waste.
Although Honda had gone, it had already spent enough to give the team a very competitive car, and also put in some money to get Brawn through its first season.
Its engines were no longer available, but this actually proved fortuitous, as Brawn instead picked up the benchmark Mercedes.
The Brawn-Mercedes package proved devastatingly effective from the (very late) moment it started testing.
Button knew from his first flying lap that the car was in another league, and the timing screens backed that up.
It still seemed too good to be true, but rivals knew the times were real, and started predicting a Brawn walkover.
For the first half of the season, that's exactly what happened.
Button dominated from the front in Australia, backed up in a one-two by Rubens Barrichello as the Brazilian recovered from an incident-packed race.
Six of 2009's first seven grands prix would fall to Button, and it wasn't all down to a superior car.
There were days, such as in Bahrain and Turkey, where Red Bull looked like it had the edge, but Jenson's racecraft and relentless mid-race speed still saw him prevail.
Brimming with confidence and driving a car he loved, Button became expert at delivering under pressure when it really, really mattered: whether snatching pole with his last lap in Monaco having previously looked all at sea, or churning out rapid heavy-fuel laps at Catalunya to overturn Barrichello's advantage.
He headed to Silverstone with a 26-point championship lead and as overwhelming favourite for a home win... and that's when it all fell apart.
Red Bull's advantage in the wet in China had hinted at Brawn's only weak point – it was so kind to its tyres, it had huge problems generating sufficient warmth in the rubber when the weather was cool.
That Achilles heel, a few unsuccessful developments and other teams' progress brought Button's winning run to an abrupt end.
The dogged mid-race charges kept coming, but now they were required to salvage odd points rather than to secure wins.
Luckily for Button, none of his rivals could put together consistent big scores, including Barrichello.
As had so often been the case at Honda, Button had blitzed Barrichello when the car was good but the Brazilian generally had the edge when it fell off the pace.
The first half of Barrichello's season had been as clunky as Button's was serene.
Repeated startline glitches ruined several races, all the technical problems seemed to affect his car, and in Spain and Germany he raged against his squad and feared team orders were being surreptitiously imposed after Button jumped ahead once their strategies played out.
The truth was that Button's race pace was more consistent than Barrichello, who became prone to Sunday slumps.
But in Valencia and at Monza he was flawless, taking two consummate wins.
Button followed him home in Italy – remarkably, his first podium in three months – but still saw his advantage over Barrichello dwindle to 14 points.
Momentum seemed to be with Jenson's pursuers, and, as the press questioned whether he had the mental strength to seal the championship, the pressure became immense.
Things still didn't go to plan – Button qualifying mid-grid for the next three races – but crucially Barrichello was faring little better, the increasingly unstoppable Red Bulls were too many points behind, and Jenson was still able to churn out those mind-blowing race times that salvaged good points wherever he qualified.
The deciding Brazilian GP was a perfect snapshot of the title run-in: Barrichello took an outstanding pole; Button made a mess of qualifying and started 14th; Barrichello couldn't keep his pace up on race day and slipped to fourth even before bad luck intervened in the form of a puncture; while Button produced his most swashbuckling charge yet to finish fifth and become world champion.
He richly deserved it too.
Admittedly he had made excessively hard work of clinching the crown and was beaten by Barrichello too often in the summer, but, as he pointed out, normally no one would frown at a driver taking the title with six race wins, and nor would they had he won six late-season races rather than six early on.
While Button's maiden title was naturally big news, the real headline story of 2009 was Brawn GP's amazing journey from its death bed to championship glory.
What made it all the more poignant was that the team will have existed in its current guise for just one glorious year.
Despite the remaining support from Honda, staff numbers still had to be drastically cut, and Brawn knew that his team might face a better future under different, better funded, ownership.
It will therefore become Mercedes GP next year, and will start a whole new chapter without Button and Barrichello – bound for McLaren and Williams respectively – but with Nico Rosberg and potentially, incredibly, Michael Schumacher.
That will be an epic saga in itself, but if Mercedes GP goes on to achieve great things, hopefully the remarkable achievements of the Brawn team that spawned it will never be forgotten.
Highlight: The pre-season Barcelona test, when the team showed up with the BGP 001 and blitzed the field – immediately establishing itself as the title favourite.
Lowlight: Silverstone, where Red Bull’s dominance with its upgraded RB5 left Brawn in no doubt that it would face serious competition for the title.
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