At the beginning of January the International Automobile Federation announced the teams and drivers confirmed for the 2009 Formula 1 championship. Absent were the names of one of the drivers at the Toro Rosso team and both drivers at the former Honda team. Honda was up for sale at the time of the announcement, but the team had been registered as an entrant in the championship.
See the complete list below:
F1 2008 Championship List
| Car No. | Driver | Team |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren Mercedes |
| 2 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren Mercedes |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari |
| 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari |
| 5 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber |
| 6 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Renault |
| 8 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Renault |
| 9 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota |
| 10 | Timo Glock | Toyota |
| 11 | Sébastien Buemi | Toro Rosso |
| 12 | TBA | Toro Rosso |
| 14 | Mark Webber | Red Bull |
| 15 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull |
| 16 | Nico Rosberg | Williams |
| 17 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams |
| 18 | TBA (Last year:)Jenson Button | Honda |
| 19 | TBA (last year:)Rubens Barrichello | Honda |
| 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India |
| 21 | TBA | Force India |