Jenson Button takes 3rd place in Abu Dhabi. Photo © BBC

The 2009 F1 season has now ended, so how will we survive the 19 weeks until the start of the 2010 season? Thank goodness there will be plenty of rugby to keep me going over the winter!

Congratulations to Brawn GP and Jenson Button on their championships, to Rubens Barrichello, Lewis Hamilton and to the Red Bull team for their heroic efforts to keep the season spicy until the end.

Most of all, congratulations to the BBC for an excellent return to F1 broadcasting. To paraphrase Sebastian Vettel, there were some mistakes but overall it was a great season.

The finale in Abu Dhabi was quite a spectacle: a fabulous looking circuit, lots of glamour and the thrill of day turning into night as the race progressed.

One minor quibble about the BBC coverage: a noticeable feature of the season has been the huge amount of fawning (I was going to say a*se-l*cking, but that would be rude), particularly from Eddie Jordan. EJ seems to have two things to say: either HE was responsible for the success of driver X or team Y, or we must prostrate ourselves in worship before person Z  because of what they have brought to the sport.

It’s been a great season and I have enjoyed BBC’s role. It has been infinitely better than previous seasons, with no ad breaks and the red button, but I do hope that Auntie will, like the teams, strive to be even better next year. Jonathan Legard has been a weak commentator but, as long as Martin Brundle is alongside him, I can live with that. Eddie, however, must be consigned to the bin of failed experiments.