Patronise F1

Getting off to a good start to the championship is what can ultimately decide a world title, it's the foundation stone that drivers can ride to glory, it's the thermal current that teams can stand their trophies on at the end of the year, it's the mixed analogy that can leave competitors sobbing in their garages, or diverting resources to next season's cars. While the 2009 season marches on it's time we looked back (but not too far back as my race collection only starts in the mid-90s) at some of the best starts to a championship season, in no particular order. After all, with all the Button hype in the media these days isn't it time we heard about someone else...

1) Jenson Button - 2009

Or, not. It's hard to go past the man of the moment given the huge media coverage. But where there's smoke from hundreds of journalist keyboards there's usually some fire, and in this case there is! Button has stormed out of the gates, taking five wins from the first six races. He's had his teammate well in check, even when Barrichello was totally dialled in at Barcelona, Button still snatched victory from Boobens' very weak jaws. He's only been bested once by the dynamic Red Bull pair in China, but he bounced back in Bahrain where he took the win even when he didn't have the fastest car. While we don't yet know how this will pan out, its hard to argue that this hasn't been a stellar start.

2) Michael Schumacher - 2004

It wasn't domination. It was shocking, outrageous, sacrifice-your-first-born-son-to-make-it-stop domination. After Michael's 2003, where he took the title like of a marathon runner collapsing inches from the line then using their tongue to cross the finish, it was expected that 2004 would be the long awaited changing of the guard. Montoya, Raikkonen and Alonso were banging at the gates and this season they'd take the old German castle. But, as it turned out, they didn't. They hardly got their feet wet in the moat. The challengers mentioned only managed two wins between them all season long, while Schumacher took more. Many more. He won the first five races of the year before being nudged out of the running by Montoya in Monaco, which was enough to make a man throw his helmet at a wall. Michael got back to his winning ways the next weekend at the Nurburgring, and went on to win a further seven races in a row. SEVEN! We didn't even get Gwyneth Paltrow's head in a box, damnit.

3) Damon Hill - 1996

Schumacher's old nemesis, and by nemesis I mean guy who was only close enough to run into by virtue of his far superior car, Damon Hill is not someone you often see in Patty lists, but we're not ones to hold a grudge. After being runner up for the last two years it was expected that Damon Hill would cruise to the '96 championship after everyone else built a bad car, or moved to Ferrari. The season started with a wobble after he lost pole in Australia to his rookie teammate Jacques Villeneuve, and it almost fell to pieces as JV was set to win his debut GP but an oil leak for the Canadian handed the win to Hill. He then went on to win three of the next four races, setting up what was ultimately a far from graceful stagger to the '96 title and Murray Walker tears. And a career in advertising.

4) Fernando Alonso - 2005

Fernando Alonso had been decent in 2004, but Jarno Trulli's closeness, as well has his spectacular win in Monaco, had seen a fraction of the hype surrounding Alonso dim after his outrageously good 2003 season. The start to 2005 though turned the Spaniard into a global superstar, and into a deity in Spain. A podium finish in Australia after he failed to control the weather in qualifying led into a hat-trick of wins. This start allowed him to win only four more races for the entire year but still easily take the title, as well as several million Spanish groupies.

5) Lewis Hamilton - 2007

Nine podiums in a row is a fair achievement in anyone's book (unless you're a certain German fellow, then it's only really okay) but for a rookie it's unheard of. That is if you were involved in the great ear muff pandemic of 2007, because everyone else heard about Lewis Hamilton's entry to the championship. Joining up with two-time defending champion Fernando Alonso, the rookie went on to wow everyone, especially James Allen (though that was in more of a bow-chicka-wo-wow kind of way) as he stormed into an early championship lead. While it all ended up as tears being absorbed like so much cat piddle in Chinese kitty litter, the start to his career will be talked about for a very long time. Much to Patty's chagrin.

6) Michael Schumacher - 2000

While technically having a better start to the year in other championships, most notably 1994, the year 2000 was a special one for Michael. Procreation had lost the #1 spot in his "life goals" list as his infatuation with bringing a title to the Scuderia came to a head, for in previous years he'd been left chasing down opponents after woeful starts or cracked bones. This season however was different, for it was title rival Mika Hakkinen who had the rough, no longer 'OK', beginning as Michael took the first three rounds convincingly. Like a ferret up the drainpipe of awesome, Schumacher stole a lead that even a major midseason wobble couldn't ruin and went on to take Ferrari's first drivers title since since Amstrads were the default computer of the cool kids.

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