The final grand prix of 2009 may not have been a corker in terms of wheel-to-wheel spectacle, but the success of Formula 1’s venture into Abu Dhabi and the relaxed, upbeat vibe in the paddock were a welcome contrast to the doom and gloom earlier in the year.
ITV.com/F1 columnist James Allen analyses the race in detail and takes stock of the season as a whole ahead of the winter break.
This race started in sunshine and ended in darkness, which is the opposite of the way this season of Formula 1 has developed.
We got underway in the teeth of a credit crunch, Honda’s withdrawal and civil war in the air between the teams and the governing body.
And we end the season with relative stability and a stunning new facility in Abu Dhabi which shows that people still believe in F1 and want to invest in it.
Today an extraordinary season came to an end with a fairly straightforward race.
Apart from the start and the end, the race didn’t really take off, largely because Lewis Hamilton was forced to retire with a brake problem.
Hamilton had been untouchable in qualifying, a combination of his fluid driving style and the McLaren’s ability on slow corners and long straights.
Because he had the problem from early on in the race and thus was not able to build the kind of lead we expected him to, it’s very hard to say who would have won if the brake problem hadn’t arisen.
But there was no question of the team leaving him out there.
The right-rear brake pad was showing unusual wear patterns and if it had failed at the end of the long straight when the car was travelling at 190mph, it doesn’t bear thinking about what might have happened.
As it was, Sebastian Vettel drove another storming race to take his fourth win and Red Bull’s fourth 1-2 of the season.
Without the controversial double diffuser, which dictated the results of the early races, Red Bull might well have won both championships, because they had the fastest car, designed to the spirit of the rules this year.
But that is academic because Brawn, Toyota and Williams exploited a loophole and it won Brawn both titles.
Red Bull end the season with six wins and 14 podiums, while Vettel emerges from this season with his reputation greatly enhanced.
Yes he made mistakes which cost him his chance of the title – in Melbourne, Monaco, Singapore and so on – but his four wins have all been top drawer.
Mark Webber, too, has had a breakthrough season with two wins and six other podiums.
It was good for Jenson Button that he was able to end his championship-winning season on the podium.
He badly wanted to end the season on a high, after having such a tricky second half to the year.
Today the Brawns were never really in it, left for dead in the first two stints by Red Bull and briefly Hamilton.
But in the final stint, when everyone got onto the soft tyres, Webber struggled and Button was able to catch him up.
Webber said afterwards that he had struggled with the soft tyres all weekend and so expected to have a tough final stint.
Button tried everything to pass, but Webber played a perfect defensive game and held him off.
There was one amusing moment in the race, when Jaime Alguersuari came into the pits because he had a gearbox problem and, mistaking the Red Bull mechanics for their next door neighbours Toro Rosso, made for the Red Bull pit box.
But the mechanics were waiting for Vettel, who was due to make his first stop which would hand him the race lead.
It was close – no sooner had Alguersuari gone through, Vettel was there!
There was also a little piece of history for Jarno Trulli today.
The Italian, who finished seventh, became the last driver to make a refuelling stop in Formula 1 for the foreseeable future.
I’ve enjoyed the racing the season, but it feels like we have lived several years in one with all the other goings-on.
It will be a long winter with no testing (apart from a young driver test) until February, but I think we should see the top two teams this season continue at the front with McLaren and Ferrari joining them.
As we say in F1, next year will be even better.