That same self-confidence disappeared when the Brawn's tyre temperature issues appeared, and his qualifying thereafter was the weakest element of his season. Instead of driving with flair, he kept gritting and forcing his way to points finishes, and Belgium was the only time he missed out whilst no-one was able to challenge him consistently. Along the way his passing manoeuvres, especially in Brazil, quickly went into folklore. Anyone who said he didn't deserve the championship were kidding themselves.

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The result was another 4th place in Bahrain in a car that had no right to up that high, and when the McLaren finally started coming good he was ready to exploit it, especially since he was the best exponent of KERS. He won by passing Webber on track in Hungary and by dominating Singapore, took four poles, and fought to the death on his two-stop strategy at Monza. His last lap crash there showed that mistakes were still a part of his game, following his Q1 accident at Monaco and his over-brave start in Germany.

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Or consider the blinding laps just before pit stops in Bahrain, Germany, Belgium and Brazil that leapt him up the field. All whilst retaining a cheerful and friendly demeanour that made him impossible to dislike. But if he has any burning ambition beneath, which he does, he should know that he ought to have been the champion. Poor starts in Bahrain, Spain, Germany and Hungary which hurt his strategy, and errors in Australia, Malaysia, Monaco, Turkey all cost him points that determined the fate of the title.

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He was the one pulling off the mega passing moves on Button in China and on Alonso in Spain, and delivering the awesome middle stints in Spain and Turkey. He was the one who dominated at the Nurburgring despite a drive-through penalty, and who took a commanding win in Brazil as well. The five scoreless races from Valencia to Japan that destroyed his title momentum was more the team's fault than his. And Mark did all this carrying an injury. But ultimately, you felt Vettel comfortably had more pace in reserve.

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Barrichello never really came to terms with that, or with the poor strategy calls that hurt him at Barcelona and the Nurburgring. His whingeing in Turkey and Germany did nothing to endear him either. And although he became Brawn's lead driver from Britain onwards in terms of regular pace, it was more a case of his performance level remaining steady whilst Button's dropped, and yet Jenson still beat him home in five of those ten events. All in all, it was a pleasant Indian summer for the Brazilian, but little more than that.

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But whether Nico was becoming a Barrichello-like solid operator, or a driver capable of greatness, was yet to be clarified. The naysayers will point to Melbourne, where the drop-off in his pace on the option tyres was one of the most notable examples of poor tyre management all year. Or to Malaysia, where the lead in the first stint was given up meekly in a single out lap. Or to Singapore, where a sure 2nd and a possible win was thrown away by a rookie's mistake. The platform is there, but where does it lead?

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But after Massa's accident in Hungary, and Raikkonen had to step up as team leader, as well as to prove his worth to his team and the paddock at large, Kimi was excellent. Four straight podiums in Hungary, Valencia, Belgium and Italy, including his traditional Spa brilliance when Fisichella was quicker, stamped an indelible mark. After ten fastest laps in 2008, in 2009 Kimi had none, which meant he was eking out the results in an inferior car. Would probably have been ranked below Massa, though, if Felipe had a full season.

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Often, though - nine times to be precise - he started in the fourth or fifth rows, and not necessarily with a heavy fuel load, which meant that he was scrapping for minor points and vulnerable to rivals running long from just outside the top ten. In the circumstances, eight points finishes was a commendable effort, with the two major highlights being a superb marathon middle stint in Germany and the podium in Singapore which lifted the team's spirits. But was there any doubt that he would be Ferrari-bound in 2010?

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But once the Ferrari started to improve a little bit, and Massa came to terms with the fact that he had to make the best of an average situation, his form picked up markedly. He staved off Vettel bravely in Spain and should have been 4th, his exceptional middle stints at Monaco and Silverstone did indeed net 4th places, and he was finally rewarded with a podium at the Nurburgring. At that point he had 22 points to Raikkonen's 10. Given how much Raikkonen impressed thereafter, what could Felipe have done?

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In all, Buemi out-qualified Bourdais 7 to 2, and had a perfect 8-0 record over Alguersuari, making Q2 nine times and Q3 on four occasions. He rode out the middle part of the year when the Toro Rosso was uncompetitive, but when the upgrade package arrived for Hungary his form picked up again, culminating in the last three races of the year. At Suzuka his raw pace was staggering, whilst in Brazil and Abu Dhabi his mature drives to points suggested that his rough edges were being refined, and fast.

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What you do know you're going to get is nothing less than an honest, consistent effort, which contrasted with Kubica's fluctuations this year. Kubica may have had higher highs, but also lower lows. Nick's run of 41 classified finishes was finally snapped by a reckless Sutil in Singapore. In the six races from Monaco to Valencia, Heidfeld finished 11th four times and 10th once, reflecting exactly where his car was at, as did his four points-scoring finishes in the last six races. He was a perfect gauge of where his BMW stood.

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Although his drives in Australia and Japan were right out of the top drawer, and he made the best of the situation in Bahrain, out of his eight points-scoring races he never had more than two in a row, which underscored an inconsistency that we had not seen for several years. He also got caught up in a rather high number of incidents for a driver of his experience, and the way he behaved after his clash with Sutil in Brazil was not only ugly, but seemed like the actions of a grumpy old man starting to go on the wane.

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