2009 Sporting Regulations

2009 ran 17 rounds. Points 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 for top 8. A brief experiment with awarding the title to the driver with most wins rather than most points was considered but dropped before the season started. Jenson Button won his only title with Brawn GP; the team was sold to Mercedes at season end. The Crashgate scandal (Nelson Piquet Jr's forced Singapore 2008 crash) broke mid-year, ending Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds's F1 careers.