[sDePrx59]

The first race in Abu Dhabi in November will be the final race of the "Noughties" - the end of another decade of F1. Amazingly to me, the year 2000 will soon be a decade since, and how has F1 developed over this time?

We started in 2000 another battle between Hakkinen in the twilight of his career and a Michael Schumacher coming into the form of his life. There were some great battles in a great season, Schumacher coming out on top with a record 9 victories. This heralded a new era of Ferrari domination, 2001 and 2002 saw Schumacher canter to the title, with new boys Montoya and Raikkonen, the former never quite realizing his potential in F1, the latter most certainly doing so. 2003 was a close fought year between the trio, however Schumacher’s experience pulled him through again, before another record breaking year in 2004 gave Schumacher his final seventh title. Then came a new era. 2005 saw Alonso and Raikkonen battle for the title with Schumacher only a peripheral figure, Alonso winning and then following up in 2006 with Schumacher having one final tilt at the title. 2007 and 2008 saw intense rivalry and stunning action between Alonso, Raikkonen, Massa and Lewis Hamilton – another new age beginning. In the end, Raikkonen and Hamilton took their first tiles respectively – both in the final race and both by a single point. And then we catch up with now – 2009 – an unusual season, lots of changes, and a shift in the pecking order of F1 – Brawn, a completely new team, win the title with Jenson Button, with Red Bull, another fairly new team, runners-up.

Whatever you call the next decade – “the teenies” ? It is looking promising, with Alonso and Massa vs Hamilton and probably Raikkonen in theoretically the top two teams, with Button defending his title – will it be a difficult second season for Brawn and Red Bull?

I can’t wait.

[Bonioners]

Oh dear. Another F1 decade gone. That's my fourth!!!

Who'dhave thunk it. At the start of this one Ferrari hadn't won a championship for years, and Schumacher had only won two.

[cialesxtr]

I can't believe I have sat through a whole decade supporting Heidfeld, yet failed to see him win even one measly time...

[NerbuitW]

Now that's dedication! One more chance for Nick this year then.

Current drivers who saw out the last decade include only trulli, Fisi & Rubens. So who of the current grid will still be around at the end of 2019? Probably Hamster but who else?

[Barryrich]

Now that's dedication! One more chance for Nick this year then.

Current drivers who saw out the last decade include only trulli, Fisi & Rubens. So who of the current grid will still be around at the end of 2019? Probably Hamster but who else?

Likely Vettel.

[mr.supervideogoodfd]

Current drivers who saw out the last decade include only trulli, Fisi & Rubens. So who of the current grid will still be around at the end of 2019? Probably Hamster but who else?

Super Hammy almost definate IMO, The Vet, Kubi. Maybe Alonso? Would be a very long career, most probs most races ever if alonso was to go to 2019, but i wouldnt put it past him.

Plus, who knows what other superstars we will have around at that time..........

[cialesxtr]

Alguesari and Grosjean will be here still if they turn out to be any good.

[NarhozNic]

Just think how many scandals would Alonso not be implicated in should he stay till 2019!
Hey, do you think Toyota might win once if they stayed around that long too?

[ZenDers]

Massa might still be here in ten years time, you never know.

Rubens probably will be at this rate

It is amazing that this decade has passed so quickly, since Jenson and Nick debuted, and ten years since Minardi had the bright yellow/green Telefonica colours.

Having said this though, I think the last three years have been unbelievably good.

[Jon Woodgate]

The first race in Abu Dhabi in November will be the final race of the "Noughties" - the end of another decade of F1. Amazingly to me, the year 2000 will soon be a decade since, and how has F1 developed over this time?

We started in 2000 another battle between Hakkinen in the twilight of his career and a Michael Schumacher coming into the form of his life. There were some great battles in a great season, Schumacher coming out on top with a record 9 victories. This heralded a new era of Ferrari domination, 2001 and 2002 saw Schumacher canter to the title, with new boys Montoya and Raikkonen, the former never quite realizing his potential in F1, the latter most certainly doing so. 2003 was a close fought year between the trio, however Schumacher’s experience pulled him through again, before another record breaking year in 2004 gave Schumacher his final seventh title. Then came a new era. 2005 saw Alonso and Raikkonen battle for the title with Schumacher only a peripheral figure, Alonso winning and then following up in 2006 with Schumacher having one final tilt at the title. 2007 and 2008 saw intense rivalry and stunning action between Alonso, Raikkonen, Massa and Lewis Hamilton – another new age beginning. In the end, Raikkonen and Hamilton took their first tiles respectively – both in the final race and both by a single point. And then we catch up with now – 2009 – an unusual season, lots of changes, and a shift in the pecking order of F1 – Brawn, a completely new team, win the title with Jenson Button, with Red Bull, another fairly new team, runners-up.

Whatever you call the next decade – “the teenies” ? It is looking promising, with Alonso and Massa vs Hamilton and probably Raikkonen in theoretically the top two teams, with Button defending his title – will it be a difficult second season for Brawn and Red Bull?

I can’t wait.

wow I feel nostalgic now.. I never even thought of the last race as being the last one of the decade.. good summary Bezza

[phinno13]

damn...it's gonna be close to 16 years of watching f1....

[SusanSazzios]

Well technically, since there was no year zero, the decade doesn't end for another year.

[toreesi]

Wow, this is the sixteenth full year of F1 I've watched..

Looking forward to next year, Massa/Alonso in the Ferrari vs. Hamilton/Raikkonen? in the McLaren should be tasty.

Plus Brawn and Red Bull should be there or thereabouts. 26 cars, half of which could be genuinely competitive.. it's all shaping up nicely!

I'm hoping the last race of the year/decade in Abu Dhabi is a classic, nothing to lose from most drivers!

[lopaayd]

Yeah it seems weird, seems only yesterday Jenson Button was the insanely inexperienced 19 year old who everyone thought Frank Williams was mad for hiring. I hadn't even HEARD of Kimi Raikkonen, and Fernando Alonso was a wayward F3000 driver with about as much potential as Enrique Bernoldi.

To be honest back then I was already missing the early 90s, but looking back it was a pretty good time, Michelin were on their way back, Montoya was on his way, the calendar was mostly traditional events, even the impending arrival/return of all the manufacturers was a nice novelty at the time, and even Schumacher's title kind of felt good even if I couldn't stand him, because at the time Ferrari hadn't won anything in ages!

Wonder if I'll look back and miss this year in 2019?

[pimbertiemoft]

2000 and 2001 was a joy for us Dutch fans, with Jos Verstappen driving that beautiful orange Arrows and putting up some great performances in it. Other than that, 2003, 2007, 2008 and this year were quite spectaculair for the general public. Looking forward to the next decade!

[DrunkMans]

I started watching in 2006, and the F1 seasons have been very entertaining. Especially the last two.

[phinno13]

hey...the racing from 2005 onwards has been pretty good....

2005 - close fight between Raikkonen / Alonso

2006 - close fight between Alonso / Schumacher

2007 - three way fight between Alonso / Hamilton / Raikkonen

2008 - very close fight between Hamilton / Massa

2009 - so many different cars and drivers making the podium esp in the second half of the season

[JamesTornC]

Well technically, since there was no year zero, the decade doesn't end for another year.

The simplest way to get rid of such nonsense is to just consider the first decade, century and millennium to have been one year too short. That lets us celebrate when the dates look like milestone dates, instead of one year later.

[NerbuitW]

Well technically, since there was no year zero, the decade doesn't end for another year.

Were you one of those guys then? Humbug its not the millennium.

[ZenDers]

Yeah it seems weird, seems only yesterday Jenson Button was the insanely inexperienced 19 year old who everyone thought Frank Williams was mad for hiring. I hadn't even HEARD of Kimi Raikkonen, and Fernando Alonso was a wayward F3000 driver with about as much potential as Enrique Bernoldi.

To be honest back then I was already missing the early 90s, but looking back it was a pretty good time, Michelin were on their way back, Montoya was on his way, the calendar was mostly traditional events, even the impending arrival/return of all the manufacturers was a nice novelty at the time, and even Schumacher's title kind of felt good even if I couldn't stand him, because at the time Ferrari hadn't won anything in ages!

Wonder if I'll look back and miss this year in 2019?

I enjoyed Schumacher's first two titles immensely, before he started showing up the oppostition.

You're right though, even Mark Webber wasn't in F1 then, and he seems to have been around for ever.

Jarno was still at Jordan, and Marc Gene was racing for Minardi.

I liked the fact most of the 'traditional' tracks remained. Even though Bahrain, Turkey, Shanghai and Abu Dhabi are fantastic tracks, they don't quite have the soul of Imola, Indianapolis, Montreal, Hockenheim (which was still the old one back then) etc.