After another rollercoaster ride of a Formula One season in which Jenson Button, of Britain, succeeded Lewis Hamilton, his compatriot, as world champion, together with cheating scandals and the threat of a breakaway series, here are some of my best and worst performers of 2009.

Driver of the Year The driver of the year is Britain’s new world champion, Button, who, as the statistics show, was the best over 17 races. Button started the year in sublime form, winning six of the first seven races in a car that, initially, was a cut above the rest. If he had waltzed to the championship by early August, there is little doubt it would have been devalued by the car advantage. Instead, Button found himself fighting for air at the head of the standings from the British Grand Prix onwards and he showed all his experience and nerve to hold on. His title-winning performance in Brazil was a masterpiece of aggressive driving that gave the lie to those who said he lacked fight on the track.

Team of the Year Brawn GP won the drivers’ and constructors’ titles in their first season in Formula One. However, Brawn GP were born out of the sale of Honda and the team started with what is widely regarded as the most thoroughly researched car in the sport’s history. The team of the year thus should be McLaren Mercedes, who showed extraordinary tenacity in transforming the worst car at the start of the season into one of the best, if not the best, by the season’s close. McLaren — led by Martin Whitmarsh, the team principal, and, on the track, by Hamilton — refused to accept defeat and were the most upwardly mobile of the season with an improvement in their car of 2.8 seconds over a typical lap.

Lap of the Year Button wins for his performance in qualifying in Monaco, which took the breath away, not least that of Rubens Barrichello, his team-mate, who could barely believe his eyes when he saw Button snatch pole at the death of the final session. Button had tried to alter his ultra-smooth style to suit the twisty streets of the principality. But on that final lap he went back to first principles and let it flow.

Misjudgment of the Year Max Mosley, the former president of the FIA, in trying and failing to force budget-capping on Formula One is a contender. As is Flavio Briatore, the disgraced former team principal of Renault, for sacking Nelson Piquet Jr, a decision that destroyed the Italian’s career. But the winner is Hamilton and those advising him at McLaren, who decided that he should try to deceive the stewards at the Australian Grand Prix in an attempt to deprive Jarno Trulli, of Toyota, of third place.

Most dramatic paddock moment That would be the press conference staged by McLaren in Kuala Lumpur at which Hamilton was forced into making a public apology for his conduct in Melbourne and also before the stewards in Malaysia, where he and Dave Ryan, the former McLaren team manager, lied to the stewards. It took months for Hamilton to recover from the trauma of Malaysia and he did himself no favours by appearing to blame others. The episode led to the end of Ron Dennis’s tenure as team principal.

Scandal of the Year This will go down as one of the worst episodes of cheating in sport. The “Crashgate” affair exploded over Formula One at the Belgian Grand Prix, when it emerged that Piquet Jr was alleging that he was asked by Renault team managers to crash his car at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix. The scandal led to Briatore and Pat Symonds, the former executive director of engineering at Renault, being banned from motor sport by the FIA in the last big case under the outgoing Mosley regime.

Quote of the Year Bernie Ecclestone for his comments published in The Times when he said Adolf Hitler was a man who could “get things done”. It caused uproar and led to Sir Martin Sorrell, a board member of CVC Capital Partners, the owner of Formula One, questioning Ecclestone’s fitness to continue running the sport.

A good year for Jean Todt, the new president of the FIA, who has four years to repair some of the damage inflicted by Mosley. Hamilton, who recovered from his nightmare in Malaysia to produce some of his best drives and ends the year set for more glory next season. Ross Brawn, who led a management buyout from Honda and Brawn GP to success in their inaugural season. Sebastian Vettel, who led the way at Red Bull and looks set to be a force for some time.

A bad year for Renault, Briatore, Symonds and Piquet Jr for “Crashgate”. Heikki Kovalainen, who has struggled for two years trying to match Hamiton at McLaren. Dennis, whose career in Formula One came to an end after the first race of this year. Felipe Massa, who suffered a potentially career-ending injury in qualifying in Hungary. And Luca Badoer, who did himself only harm when standing in for the Brazilian only to be dropped for Giancarlo Fisichella.