One of the most exciting, controversial and, at times, absurd seasons in Formula One is over. Kimi Raikkonen is the unexpected champion after pick-pocketing the prize at a dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix from two drivers at McLaren Mercedes in Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who looked to have the title battle to themselves. So who are the main winners and losers at the end of an epic season?

Winners

Kimi Raikkonen
Ayrton Senna once said that every year in Formula One there is a winner but not always a champion. That would be unfair on Raikkonen but it is also true to say that he rose to the top at the death as much through the errors of others as through his raw genius. Is a Raikkonen era in Formula One about to begin? Possibly not. The Finn arguably lacks the all-round game to be a serial winner.

Lewis Hamilton
He slipped up at the last two fences having led the title race almost all year. But Hamilton is the most successful rookie in history by a country mile and he beat Alonso, his teammate and defending world champion. Hamilton has exceeded expectations and shown that he has all the qualities to be champion next year. The key questions are: will McLaren produce a competitive car for 2008 and how well will he do without Alonso as a teammate, should the Spaniard leave?

Felipe Massa
The sporting Brazilian led Raikkonen, his teammate, for much of the year but suffered bad luck with reliability and pit-lane errors. Exceptionally quick in qualifying, Massa could easily have emerged on top at Ferrari this season and has been justly rewarded with a contract until the end of 2010.

Bernie Ecclestone
The Formula One magnate with the Midas touch could hardly have dreamt up a more eye-catching show, which went right down to the wire in Brazil, the perfect place in terms of world time zones for the biggest global television audience. This season had it all; a new star in Hamilton, a “class A” scandal in the Ferrari-McLaren spy story and a nail-biter of a finish. Best of all for Ecclestone, it has left everyone eagerly awaiting next season.

Losers

Fernando Alonso
The former world champion had it on a plate at McLaren this season, a team who paid him handsomely for a chance to win a third consecutive championship. But he could not handle the fact that Hamilton was often quicker than him and being given an equal chance. Alonso is a charming individual who has let himself down with his intemperate conduct. He may pay a heavy price if he leaves and ends up in what could be an uncompetitive car at Renault.

Ron Dennis/McLaren
Dennis and his team have been embroiled in an embarrassing cheating saga with Ferrari that cost them a fortune. Dennis has once again failed the challenge of trying to manage two competitive drivers on an equal footing and McLaren’s errors played a critical role in depriving Hamilton, in particular, of an historic title through a tyre strategy error in China and a technical failure in Brazil. The team denied yesterday that Hamilton had caused the glitch in São Paulo by pressing the wrong button, saying it was most likely a hydraulic fault. No drivers’ title, no constructors’ title and one very miserable Iberian. Dennis’s annus horribilis.

The FIA
The governing body did well in the adjudication of the spy story, but there remained a widespread perception in the paddock of an undercurrent of personal scores being settled by Max Mosley, its president, whether this was the case or not. At several points in the season, the FIA seemed to be playing a bigger role in the outcome of the championship than its critics believe was warranted.

Jenson Button
Another miserable season for Britain’s big hope (before Hamilton, that is). Not really Button’s fault. Honda were woeful and are talking of a renaissance next year, but there is a big gap in performance to bridge and Button is running out of time.