F1 highlights of the decade
2009-12-31 07:05
A factbox on highlights from the past 10 years of Formula One.
Driver of the decade:
With his astonishing seven Formula One championships, Michael Schumacher could be the driver of the century as much as the decade. He is poised to increase his tally still further after coming out of retirement in December 2009 to drive for Mercedes.
The German does have his rivals for the accolade, however. France's Sebastien Loeb has won six world rally championships in a row while in America Jimmie Johnson has racked up an unprecedented four successive NASCAR titles. And that's not counting the irrepressible showman Valentino Rossi in MotoGP.
Defining moment:
On Sept. 13, 2007, then-International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley assured reporters that justice had been done after McLaren were fined a record $100 million for a spying controversy involving leaked Ferrari data.
That fine, and the fact that McLaren could pay it without going out of business, was the high water mark of an era of massive and rampant spending by the major players in Formula One and heralded major changes in attitudes. Just over a year later, Honda kicked off a manufacturer exodus. When Renault were caught in a race-fixing scandal this season there was no question of such a fine. Nobody could take that kind of a hit now.
Race of the decade:
The day that Formula One commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone's dream came true with 23-year-old Lewis Hamilton, the sport's youngest and first black champion, taking the 2008 title with an overtaking manoeuvre on the last corner of the last lap of the last race in Sao Paulo.
The Briton had missed out on the crown by a single point the previous year, his rookie season, and was again seconds from failure at Interlagos before he swept past Toyota's Timo Glock for the crucial fifth place that dashed the hopes of Ferrari's Brazilian race winner Felipe Massa.