Lewis Hamilton gives Formula 1 its first hybrid victory

Formula 1’s first hybrid victory did not arrive during an era designed around hybrid engines. It came in 2009, when Lewis Hamilton used McLaren’s troublesome but rapidly improving KERS-equipped car to turn a difficult season into a technical milestone.

The 2009 regulations had forced teams into one of the largest design resets in recent Formula 1 history. Slick tyres returned, aerodynamic surfaces were simplified and an optional kinetic energy recovery system, usually shortened to KERS, allowed teams to store energy generated under braking and release it as a brief burst of additional power.

The concept promised relevance beyond racing, but its first months were awkward. KERS added weight, complicated cooling and made it harder to distribute ballast around the car. Several teams decided that the system’s limited power boost did not justify the compromises. Brawn and Red Bull, the leading teams during the opening part of the season, raced without it.

McLaren committed to KERS but began the year with a car that lacked aerodynamic performance. Hamilton arrived as the reigning world champion, yet the MP4-24 was rarely capable of defending his title. After nine rounds, neither Hamilton nor team-mate Heikki Kovalainen had finished on the podium.

An upgrade begins to change the season

McLaren introduced a substantial development package during the summer. Progress became visible at the German Grand Prix, where Hamilton briefly ran near the front before contact and a puncture ruined his race. Two weeks later at the Hungaroring, the improved car was competitive from the beginning of the weekend.

Fernando Alonso took pole for Renault, with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber next for Red Bull. Hamilton qualified fourth. That placed him close enough to use the start, the KERS power boost and the McLaren’s improved race pace rather than wait for a strategy miracle.

Hamilton advanced ahead of Webber during the opening phase and settled behind Alonso. The Renault was running a short first stint and stopped early. Soon afterwards, a front wheel that had not been secured properly detached from Alonso’s car, forcing him to retire and leaving Hamilton in control of the race.

Kimi Räikkönen became the principal challenger for Ferrari, another team that had retained KERS. Hamilton maintained a steady advantage through the pit-stop sequence and completed the 70 laps 11.529 seconds ahead of the Finn. Webber finished third for Red Bull.

The first win for recovered energy

The victory was Hamilton’s first of the season and the tenth of his Formula 1 career. It was also the first Grand Prix won by a car equipped with an energy-recovery system.

The milestone carried more weight than the amount of energy involved. The 2009 system provided only a short power boost each lap and was not integrated into the power unit in the way later hybrid systems would be. Even so, the McLaren demonstrated that recovered braking energy could contribute to a winning Formula 1 package rather than remain an expensive engineering experiment.

Hungary also showed how quickly competitive order could move during a development race. McLaren had started the season well behind Brawn and Red Bull. By July, its revised car could qualify near the front, race consistently and exploit the additional acceleration provided by KERS.

Hamilton won again in Singapore and McLaren recovered to third in the constructors’ standings. The championship belonged to Jenson Button and Brawn, but the second half of the year no longer resembled the first.

KERS disappeared from Formula 1 for 2010 before returning in 2011, and the far more comprehensive hybrid power-unit regulations followed in 2014. By then, energy recovery had become central to the sport’s technical direction. The first entry in that winning history remained the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix: Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes and a system many rivals had decided was not yet worth carrying.