This Time Last Year...

This is just a short post comparing the change in fortune for each of the teams and drivers over the first 4 grand prix. At the 2008 Australian GP, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton dominated by getting pole position and going on to easily win the race, with his team mate Heikki Kovalainen obtaining fastest lap, Ferrari only managed an 8th place with Kimi Raikkonen as Felippe Massa retired.

For the next 3 races, Ferrari got max points with a 1-2 in each race except for Malaysia where Massa retired. Hamilton picked up some points with 5th and 3rd places in the Malaysian and Spanish GPs respectively, although only managed to finish in 13th at the Bahrain GP. This is a big contrast to the Honda team (now Brawn GP) that only had 3 points in total after the first 4 races last year, and now have a commanding lead in the championship.

The following is a table showing the difference in the top teams of both years:

Drivers

2008 Points (4 races)

1. Raikkonen - 29 Points
2. Hamilton - 20 Points
3. Massa - 18 Points
4. Button - 3 Points
5. Barrichello - 0 Points
6. Vettel - 0 Points

2009 Points (4 races)

1. Button - 31 Points
2. Barrichello - 19 Points
3. Vettel - 18 Points
4. Hamilton - 9 Points
5. Raikkonen - 3 Points
6. Massa - 0 Points

Constructors

2008 Points (4 races)

1. Ferrari - 47 Points
2. Bmw - 35 Points
3. McLaren - 34 Points
4. Toyota - 9 Points
5. Red Bull - 8 Points
6. Honda (Brawn GP) - 3 Points

2009 Points (4 races)

1. Brawn GP - 50 Points
2. Red Bull - 27.5 Points
3. Toyota - 26.5 Points
4. McLaren - 13 Points
5. BMW - 4 Points
6. Ferrari - 3 Points