What a season! 2007 was the most dramatic and unpredictable Formula One
campaign I can recall. It was a year in which we saw the sensational impact
of the most impressive rookie of all time, and a three-way, last-round title
shoot-out with the outcome not totally resolved until the final chequered
flag confirmed a surprise – but worthy – new champion.
When the season began in Australia back in March, it seemed that it was going
to be a Ferrari walkover with new signing Kimi Raikkonen winning at a
canter. He was so far ahead he got bored and nearly fell off the track. But
that is not how it played out at all, and by the second race it was clear
that we were set for a year in which Ferrari and McLaren would take turns in
command. Impressively, until Hamilton’s 30-second gearbox reset last week in
the Brazilian Grand Prix, the McLarens had been 100% reliable which was a
key factor.
What was clear for all to see was Lewis Hamilton’s pace, racecraft and supreme
confidence. In Australia, he was able to keep Fernando Alonso under control
and only team strategy decided it in the Spaniard’s favour. Critical moments
like that would have a profound effect 17 races later. We were expecting
Hamilton to be quick while making mistakes, but he was largely bulletproof
under intense pressure, until the final two rounds. His passing of the two
Ferraris in the first two corners of the second race in Malaysia was the
defining moment.
Hamilton has set rookie records that may never be beaten, particularly his
opening run of nine consecutive podiums. Only at Silverstone did his form
take a dip. He still finished on the podium but was soundly thrashed by
teammate Alonso. But of his four wins, two – Canada and Fuji – were the most
devastating demonstrations of soaking up sustained pressure I can imagine
from behind the wheel of a racing car at any stage of a career.
Sometimes he was a victim of his own success. At the Nurburgring he got off to
a bad start with a qualifying accident caused by a loose wheel, leaving him
down the grid. In the race there was a rainstorm, and several drivers,
including Hamilton, skated off the track. The hand of God – or that of a
crane driver anyway – magically put the McLaren, which was still running,
back on the track. Then, as per new regulations, the ensuing safety car
allowed lapped cars to unlap themselves. They had a miracle unfolding in
front of them and they blew it – Hamilton’s request for an early change to
dry tyres should have been denied by the team. His overconfidence and lack
of experience left him with a ninth-place finish.
Such bravado and determination though would elevate him to the top of the
world championship standings but eventually cost him the title. In China we
saw him standing in front of an open goal for the world championship, but on
totally worn-out tyres he was still fighting corner apexes with Raikkonen.
The team, seemingly believing he could handle anything, went for gold and
lost the gamble with the weather conditions. Just matching the others, or
even an extra stop would have eventually won him the title.
Hamilton must learn the percentage game for next year, maximising points when
it’s not quite working out. It all came to a miserable end with his gearbox
problem in Brazil, albeit again after a lack of judgment on the first lap,
neither of which would have mattered had he not made those two previous
errors.
For all of Hamilton’s performances, Raikkonen is a fully deserving champion.
He won six races, two more than Alonso or Hamilton. He must take some
satisfaction from the fact that he left McLaren and then beat them to the
title in his first season with Ferrari. His form was a bit up and down, but
from mid-season he scored more points than anybody else. He claimed to
struggle with the transition to the Ferrari team’s Bridgestone tyres which
doesn’t really make sense given his dominant first race. The quiet and
ferociously fast Finn seemed to focus much harder and dig deeper in
mid-season.
His teammate Felipe Massa is an enigma. At the front with a fast car he can
look truly invincible. But he can also get mired in the midfield. With a new
Ferrari contract until the end of 2010 in his pocket, here is a driver who
will win many more Grands Prix, but he will need to find another gear if he
wants to take the title.
And Alonso? His stock stands at a fraction of what it was a year ago. Many of
us in the paddock cannot believe we misread the man so badly. He torpedoed
his own team’s chances with his tactics in Hungary. At season end he said
that if the team had favoured him they could have won the title. Yet he
regularly criticised McLaren for not providing equality. Alonso has a
reputation not only as a whinger but as someone who brings plenty of strife.
It will probably take McLaren a couple of years to wash through the damage
the so-called spying scandal has caused.
I would be amazed if Alonso is still there next year, although anything is
possible in F1. The worry is that he is still a supremely gifted driver, as
we saw with his great wheel-rubbing pass on Massa for victory at the
Nurburgring, and if Ron Dennis surrenders him, a rival gets the performance
benefit. They need a contractual and attitude reset to avoid those numerous
carbon-fibre dummies being spat from the cockpit again.
We saw right from the start that BMW had moved up to being the number three
team, which was a big step forward and quite an achievement, given that they
had only last year purchased the underachieving Sauber team. When any one of
the four drivers in a Ferrari or McLaren had an off-day, there would be a
BMW ready to take advantage, as we saw in Bahrain where Nick Heidfeld went
around the outside of Alonso in impressive style. Robert Kubica is a name we
will see for many seasons in Formula One, although his accident in Montreal
could easily have changed all that.
We also saw that world champions Renault had suffered badly from the loss of
Alonso and the switch from Michelin tyres.
Their rookie signing Heikki Kovalainen, of whom much was expected, suffered a
terrible start to the season, but as the year went on he emerged as
Renault’s lead driver, eclipsing Giancarlo Fisichella, and crowned his
season with a gutsy second place in the rain of Fuji.
Had it not been for Lewis Hamilton, the F1 crowd would be looking at
Kovalainen and Williams’s Nico Rosberg as the stand-out future men. In a
much-improved Williams Toyota, Nico did everything he had threatened but not
delivered in 2006, and looks set for a big future, doubtless spurred on by
the success of his friend and former karting teammate Hamilton.
Of the others, Red Bull improved their performance as the season unfolded but
need better reliability, and 2008 promises much. David Coulthard and Mark
Webber proved to be a good combination. Honda were dismal and Jenson Button
did well to keep his chin up and drive the wheels off the thing. Ironically,
it has raised his stock higher. Toyota are simply spinning their wheels
making no visible progress from the midfield and surely only have one more
year to show true potential.
Toro Rosso, like their sister Red Bull team, improved a lot towards the end of
the year and Sebastian Vettel answered any questions we may have had about
his raw pace. Spyker had their second change of ownership in a year and
their future surely lies in entering into some kind of Toro Rosso-type deal
for a customer car. Adrian Sutil occasionally shone.
Super Aguri began the season embarrassing Honda, the donor of their car, but
as the year wore on their lack of resource development told and they slid
ever further back.
The winners and losers of the season
WINNERS
Formula One Enjoyed a sensational year with a three-way title showdown,
some excellent races and an enhanced following. Global awareness and the
sponsorship base continues to grow
Lewis Hamilton A stunning start to his F1 career and already a global
sports star. He laid down a great foundation for his future F1 career and
should not be too disillusioned about not winning the title
Nico Rosberg Marked himself out as a man of the future, showing great
race long speed and much-improved form
Ferrari Made a great transition from the Michael Schumacher era by
winning the drivers’ title with Kimi Raikkonen
LOSERS
Formula One Various spats damaged the sport, especially the
Ferrari/McLaren espionage case. It became a gloves-off personal fight
between various power brokers which was ugly
Honda A team feeds off a fast car and unfortunately theirs was allergic
to corners. The team and the manufacturer have the stomach and experience to
stage a fightback
Toyota They are not improving. Their committee management approach,
steered from Tokyo, is not appropriate for F1. They have the budget
Fernando Alonso He ruined a legendary reputation with a lack of
maturity and some plain bad manners, and made himself difficult to employ
despite his vast talent. A charm offensive must be imminent
The other loser[s] - The Indignant Iberians who accuse the British of biased media whilst the Spanish Press is as rabid as their own comments if not more. You have shown YOURSELVES in a poor light.
Thank goodness I know some proper Spaniards who are warm, hospitable, passionate, sporting, intelligent and tremendous fun.
I wouldn't want to spend any time with any of the commenteers from that sunny place who have been pouring out their mis-informed, poorly researched rubbish on the comments boards of the Times this season. But I have enjoyed the comments of certain others who are currently taking a well earned break.
Not to mention a whole legion of Thicky Brits who think they know enough about F1 to make 'qualified' comments!
Nice article Martin - more please.
How about telling us exactly how much input into car design can be expected from a driver and what are their qualifications in engineering and design terms.
Dave, Buckie, UK
A very good summary of 2007, Martin Brundle. I do feel that Lewis and Alanso where most fortunate to continue 2007 with all their point in tact considering the FIA finding that their team did indeed have access to Ferrari's intellectual property for most of the season. And, based on transcripts of team communications, McLaren did in fact also use some of that information to their advantage. This might explain the sudden upsurge of the performance of McLaren after Australia. Had this not occurred, it is quite possible that Kimi Raikkonen - with level playing fields, would have won by an even greater margin. Lets also not forget the string of bad fortune that he suffered with mechanical failure.
Dirk, Vredenburg, South Africa
please think about this: give kovalainen or rosberg (rookies as LH) the same car (mclaren), the same help he had from his own team and fia, and they'd have probably won the wordl championship because I suspect they are not so arrogant and presumptous as LH is. Take off from LH final classification all the points he received "gratis" and add to FA al the points they stole him and you will see how different would be the final results.
isabel, marbella, spain
Thought I'd come out in favour of Martin Brundle's article :-)
Fernando Alonso chose to use Ferrari information given to him on tyre gases etc. and then use his knowledge to his advantage within his team! A great driver, reduced to petulant behaviour at Hungary by delaying his exit from his pit. Surely he wasn't naive enough to enter into his new Maclaren deal this year without understanding exactly where he stood contractually etc.
Kimi Raikonnen - he won most (6) races, deserving champion. Maybe could do with a bit more personality ;-)
Hamilton - phrases like superstar are a bit premature. But for a rookie, he set new standards (9 podiums first 9 races for instance) However, his second season will reveal how good he is/can be.
Finally, one winner, Martin, you forgot, was the viewing public. This had to be the most entertaining season for a very, very long time. I expect to see BMW well in the mix next year. Anyone for a 6 way driver battle in the last race in 2008?
Nigel, Ipswich, UK
The biggest of the lossers is Ron Dennis along with his spoiled "Urkel". Urkel has failed to win when he had all the advantages....they even sabotaged his team mate cars and still he fails. Pathetic!
Blundell is the biggest of the losers, what has he acheived?
Nothing... at least Urkel and him have something in common, probably that's why they get on with each other so well.
Mark my words, Urkel is going to be the best Sub-champion in history of F1, he is going to out-rule Striling Moss(4 sub-championships )
mike, london ,
Isn't Kimi Raikkonen - the 2007 Drivers World Champ - worth a mention in the "winners" list?
I totally agree that Lewis Hamilton is going to write many chapters of F1 history in the next years. I really look forward to see more battles between him and Kimi, Fernando, Felipe, Nick, Robert.
Furio, Rome, Italy
Martin Brundle, a winner or a loser?
Lets see, 12 years in F1 and he won ZERO races....mmm LOSER!
jordi, bournemouth,
Talking about winners and losers, here is a question:
After 12 years in F1, how many races won Martin Brundle?
jordi, bournemouth,
Talking about winners and losers, here there is a question:
How many races Mr Martin Brundle won in 12 years in F1?
by the way, I posted this question 5 times, is martin filtering the comments himself?
jordi, bournemouth, uk
Fernando Alonso a loser? Probably so, just like all the other champions from the past who did not take the title every single year they raced after first becoming world champions.
But in the end he demolished his cocky team-mate. One overtaking manoeuvre was enough to instill terror into the phenomenal rookie, as shown by the subsequent outing a couple of curves later and then the PlayStation Reset on lap 8.
Many a loser would pay dearly to be able to end the season with a smirk and a snigger the way Alonso did. What a nasty dude he is.
Michel Angstadt, Serranillos del Valle, (Madrid) Spain
Martin, a year ago I considered you to be an objective broadcaster and journalist, but no charm offensive will ever make me believe that in the future.
We are continually pedalled the most laughable of excuses to cover up Lewis’ mistakes, drip-fed character assassinations from un-named McLaren sources on a man who was very well-respected until he came up against a Brit (and the British media), and are expected to focus on Alonso giving evidence that he was legally required to give rather than the fact that McLaren were found guilty enough to be given the all-time record fine in sport.
McLaren denied any knowledge of the information gained from Ferrari, which we now know to be untrue. So why should I, and more pertinently you given your position, believe anything else that comes out of the McLaren team?
He’s a Brit, and should be supported as such, but only in sporting terms – not politically. And I for one do not want my entertainment to be “spun†to me.
Tony, Sheffield,
Is this who writes the same Martin Brundle that used to drive? What a disappointment is reading you with such a biased opinion. Mc Laren 100% reliability? You seem to forget the problems that Alonso had in Bahrein and France and despite of that he got points for McLaren. Despite the fact of being alone in his team he got the same points as Lewis, who had all the support of McLaren and Mercedes, the FIA, the UK and German press, Ecclestone, etc. Alonso has an attitude problem, of course he does, who doesn't in those conditions? And your comment about Hungary, simply dreadful. Winners and loosers? The biggest looser is Lewis, who everybody raised as foam and supported and then fell and failed to everyone. Please Mr. Brundle, open your eyes.
Edu, Palma, Spain
The truth is that I can not believe what I just read.
Mr Brundle forget to say that if Hamilton had nothing to do in the case of espionage, it is because they have no idea of improving the performance of a tricycle, which is why it had no information. We forget to say that Hamilton copied telemetry Alonso, he forgets to say that Alonso stole the race from Hungary thanks to Hamilton who jumped orders team, and Dennis did nothing when they disobeyed, he forgets to say they were Alonso altered pressures on the set of tires with which crashed in Japan, he forgets to say as were the pressures of the tires Alonso in the rating of China.
Mr Martin Brundle I think that should look both oblivion.
As you might say that Hamilton is a winner when it lost its mistakes to the championship in the last two races.
Alonso is a winner because after last year how much has merit finish a point behind the champion.
David, Toledo, España
Be careful because this guy has won nothing.
You are building an super star from nothing.
He might be the next Kourtnikova.
Wait until he wins a championship to call him a star.
If he is a star how should we call Schumacher.
rtf, Madrid, Spain
Mr. Brundle, I did like you a lot as a driver and I can't believe what I just read, you also thrashed your reputation in front of the non-english audience ..... whoever thinks that because Alonso and De La Rosa exchanged a couple of emails makes them guilty in the spy saga is flat out wrong....
As for Hamilton, well, both Fernando and Kimi have experience driving in the middle or the back of the grid. He was lucky to have a car that always put him in front but blew it every time he was not (Nurburgring, Turkey, China, Brazil....). Maybe a couple of years in Spyke would have served him well ... I forecast Vettel will be an awesome driver because he is learning where F1 drivers can learn.
As for next year, I think Alonso will stay at McLaren. They need his expertise with cars that do not have traction control so they can pass on his car set up to Lewis. I hope Fernando does not fall in that trap.
Pau, Barcelona,
Just one remark, in my opinion and tin that of thousands of Formula 1 fans, not necessarily Italians, the "most impressive rookie of all time" was annd stays Gilles Villeneuve, do you remember him? Ever heard of? I guess yes: it's a legend. Hamilton is just beginning his own story and nobody knows who will remember him in the future. As for the records, in his first season has won he same number of grand prix won by Gilles, but what a difference between them!
Cheers
Pasquale
Pasquale, Naples,
To make this article objective one needed to consider on the one hand Hamilton's tremendous blunders in the last two races, and on the other the help he got from a disqualified car and his team-mate Alonso.
Articles aside, one can only wait for next year's races, but I suspect Hamilton and Mclaren will go back next year to where they were when they weren't cheating.
Dwayne, Perth, Australia
Mr. Brundle, the spying scandal is a big mistake, but not of Fernando Alonso, is a big mistake of McClaren. The only one who damages the team in Hungary was your beloved Hamilton,but you as a good british guy, do not see beyond your nose.
Drake, Frankfurt,
Where's Ron Dennis name here? Where's Mr. Hamilton Sr's name here? Their masterplan is over. The only thing Alonso did LOSE this year is the chance to win another championship, the third was deserved to him.
Enric, Barcelona,
Alonso is a great driver. It is a shame he had so many problems with his club this year. He had too much worries on his mind. That is why he strikes short in Brazil.
He is still my favorite one.
tanya, budva, montenegro
What a difference a year makes. Last year he was hailing Alonso - this year with a Brit involved he derides him.
Alonso might be testy, complex and emotional but I'd take him any day over the far more hard to read, pr savvy, never put a foot wrong Hamilton, and I don't buy into that at all. Its about time the papers dropped the soucicient halo they like to put around Hamilton - they couldn't even describe him with a hangover the day after the McLaren party - he had a fever following the party. Oh purlease come on.
Alonso is a great driver and a terrific guy. Its just our British press and ridiculous ITV commentators that don't see it. Jingoism at its best and how embarrassing for our nation.
Annie, Oxford, UK
In my opinion, Ron dennis was the guilty man in the ferrygate. He had to cut it from the base and not let ilegal information runing on the hans of the team members. Alonso wasn´t the man who got the information, he just used it because it was in the team and he use it. Ron or martin or whoever should to avoid the informetion runig freely betwen the team memnbers. BE truly with your information, don´t put Alonso as the guilty man, Ron was.
José Balseiros Rabanal, Oviedo, Spain
The only reputation ruined this year is Ron´s, and maybe Lewis. He was 7 running 7 years without titkles and now are 8. With the right support to Alonso, this year, Alonos would had been the champion. He managed to equal in points to Ron´s kid, even "We were figthing against Alonso not to Ferrari" Ron Said, not me, nor Alonso.
José Balseiros Rabanal, Oviedo, Spain
In Sapin losseres means someone that not won. MAc laren an HAM didn't won nothing this year. Nevertheless HAM has make a great season, wich doesn't means winner season, and mor if you analize why he is not the campion. HE is the only guilty on that. Why get son hihn speed going to the pit in China?. Why was him so Stupid getting not keeping himself just behind Alonso in Brasil? In spanish we call that "miedo a ganar" "scare to Win" and sportsmans not well settled use to have it. he saids iforget China, dont worry I will win, etc. thats miserable
José Balseiros Rabanal, Oviedo, Spain
You said:
"He torpedoed his own team’s chances with his tactics in Hungary."
??????????????
Manuel, Pamplona, Spain
Well, one moooore great analysis from the most "respected" newspaper in UK: "Fernando Alonso is a loser because I don't like him"...Indulging.
Yeah, it was probably Fernando's "charmless" attitude the reason he did only lost the championship by only 1 point matching the 109 points of Hamilton. His skills or the decisive decision of the FIA to penalize Alonso in Hungary for the "greater good" of the business didn't really affect the final result in the Championship...
I wonder what would have happened had Alonso won the title: Underserving? Unjust? Unfair? Whining champion?
The first thing it comes to your mind when I say... objective analysis! No? Blank?
Pablo, Madrid, Spain
With respect to Martin, saying that Fernando is still a supremely gifted driver is something of an understatement. He is a driver you certainly don't want fighting against you such is his relentless pursuit of the prize. Yes, he made mistakes this year, but we should not forget that he did everything right in Brazil and had Massa/Ferrair slipped up it would be his name on the trophy not Kimi's . He is still the best in the business in my opinion.
Richard , Kawasaki, Japan
Dear Martin,
You failed to mention the biggest looser of the season: MACLAREN
Alexander Turner, Barcelona,
With respect to Martin, saying that Fernando is still a supremely gifted driver is something of an understatement. He is a driver you certainly don't want fighting against you such is his relentless pursuit of the prize. Yes, he made mistakes this year, but we should not forget that he did everything right in Brazil and had Massa/Ferrair slipped up it would be his name on the trophy not Kimi's . He is still the best in the business in my opinion.
Richard , Kawasaki, Japan