The real winners of 2007

[kimi and mika]

The following is from the official F1 website:

With all the excitement of the championship fight over the closing rounds, it has been easy to forget what has been going on further down the grid. Whose value has gone up this season,We compared the 2006 and 2007 driver standings to discover the biggest movers.

The winners…

Nico Rosberg
2006 - 17th, 2007 - 9th (+8)
There were flashes of brilliance in Nico Rosberg’s ’06 debut season, but a mixture of inexperience and poor reliability ultimately meant nine retirements and just four points. This year the young German has come of age, proving not only spectacularly quick, but also consistent. In qualifying his speed was awesome, humbling veteran team mate Alex Wurz as he made the top-ten shootout on no less than nine occasions. Some mature, aggressive racing meant he also took the bulk of Williams’ points (20 of 33) and he capped an excellent season with a career-best fourth place in Brazil. No wonder there’s talk of him replacing Alonso at McLaren, should the Spaniard move on…

Takuma Sato
2006 - 22nd, 2007 - 17th (+5)
Takuma Sato remains Japan’s most successful Formula One driver. He may not have qualified on the front row or finished on the podium this year (he has done so in the past), but he more than proved his worth. His 2007 season started superbly, when he gave Super Aguri their first top-ten qualifying result in Australia. He went one better in Spain, landing the fledgling team their first point. And in Canada he scored their best result to date, with an impressive sixth place. Thanks in no small part to Sato’s hard work, no longer are Super Aguri a permanent feature on the back row of the grid, rather genuine mid-field contenders.

Kimi Raikkonen
2006 - 5th, 2007 - 1st (+4)
What can you say about Kimi Raikkonen? We already knew he was a potential world champion and this year the right equipment at the right time finally enabled him to prove the point. And what a contrast to 2006. Then he failed to win a single race with McLaren. A year on and he has won six - and the drivers’ crown - with Ferrari, frustrating his former team’s title aspirations in the process. He signalled his intent early on, with victory in the Australian opener, but from round two onwards he became the hunter rather than the hunted. Keeping his ‘iceman’ cool throughout, only at the deciding round in Brazil did he regain the championship lead. The only downside - how does he top it in 2008?

Nick Heidfeld
2006 - 9th, 2007 - 5th (+4)
While his Ferrari and McLaren rivals were busy slugging it out for the title, Nick Heidfeld was quietly putting in one of the most assured and consistent campaigns of 2007. Having raised his game to tame hotshot team mate Robert Kubica, the experienced German was the mainstay of BMW’s rise to second spot in the constructors’ standings. He qualified in the top eight at every round, and in the 15 races he finished, only once did he fail to score. He took second place in Canada (the team’s best ever result), third in Hungary and was fourth on a further five occasions. In essence, he didn’t put a foot wrong - remove the red and silver cars and Heidfeld was the class of the field. Not only that, with his new look of unkempt beard and seventies’ shades, he also became the coolest man on the grid.

[maltafan]

Nice analysis, but difficult to compare at times.

It's difficult to compare Kubica's performance, who was a winner imo, performing better than his team mate towards the middle of the season.
Kova had his maiden season in F1 and although starting on the wrong foot, he recovered and overshadowed team mate Fisichella.
Sutil was consistently better than Albers and Yamamoto was nowhere next to him. He has a great future in F1.

and the list goes on.

[lmcsp]

Nice breakdown ..

I do agree that there is alot more talent in the current F1 field than is expressed on ITV or alot of the F1 websites.

From your list, I have been very impressed with Sato and his team - Complete underdogs and they came out pretty bloody good imo.

Rosberg: I just wonder what this kid would do or achieve in a truly front running car!!

Heidfield: Very unassuming chap - hes been in F1 for a while now, finally his time to shine, although it does go pretty unnoticed because of his recluse nature - but yes he has proved he can fight with the big boys in a car that "shouldnt" be at the front.

Last but not least: Kimi Raikkonen ..
There is no denying it, as said in various other websites and interviews - he just keeps his mouth shut and gets on with the job. He proves that F1 is about the racing - not talking it up every chance you get!!
Very deserved championship - and obviously my favorite ..

And the others:
Vettel: he looks like he could do some damage in a better car, considering he has done so in a Torro Rosso.
Webber: when oh when will he find a reliable car .. he has looked very good at some stages this season ..
Kubica: Hmm, obviously he is a very very good driver, but for some reason cant get the best out of his car -
Heikki: another one whom I think would really clean up in a better car, although he does still make some "rookie" mistakes and at this level I dont think that this should happen, considering he is so highly rated ..

Thats all from me ..

Congratulations to the new World Drivers Champion 2007 :: Kimi Raikkonen

[JoostLamers]

this says NOTHING, maybe a bit

[Sauly]

I think another winner of this season was Mark Webber! He could have been a real pain to the BMW drivers if his car wasn't as fragile as a fine china dish! If everything went to plan he would have a race win with a few podiums this year no doubt!
Mark will do even better next year if they can get their act together....

[NBL & ME]

NBL & ME says...

The real winner of F1 2007 is Lewis Hamilton...He never make any mistake till he slide out of way to the pit.Other than that,the team (McLaren Mercerdes) is the source of Bad News for him.McLaren let L.Hamilton drive his car till the tyre finish!to many mistaken since Kimi Raikonen in the team last year.

Alonso also one of the factor : when the team have more than one starring,its become a big problem to solve weather about moral,ego,priority...its same laike you watching one movie with two hero/starring...(exludind Bad Boys,Rush Hour...)

We hope next F1 is more rational and logic without any stupid management like McLaren Mercedes...dont forgot to support
our goverment in involvement FI because Singapore got GREEN light from FIA to organize night F1 race...

[lmcsp]

NBL & ME says...

The real winner of F1 2007 is Lewis Hamilton...He never make any mistake till he slide out of way to the pit.Other than that,the team (McLaren Mercerdes) is the source of Bad News for him.McLaren let L.Hamilton drive his car till the tyre finish!

Hmm, NBL, interesting take .. what did he win??

I must say though, other than yourself, all the ham-fans have been particularly quite this week - after his botched up efforts in the last 2 GPs everyone seems have something better to do than to tell us all how great he is .. yup, he did a great job .. coming 2nd in, by far, the fastest car this season.

KIMI RAIKKONEN - WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPION 2007
you can't argue with that!!!

[Mozzer56]

I think Vettel and Kovaleinen are people to keep an eye on in the future in F1, they've both had pretty good seasons and I think they would go far in competetive cars, real winners imo. Vettel has scored some decent points despite being just 20, and Kovaleinen has shown some flashes of real speed and put Fisichella in the shade.

People who lost out big this season obviously Button & Barrichello at Honda... neither are bad drivers but the car was terrible!! Not a good year for Ralf either lol.

[Zack]

NBL & ME says...

The real winner of F1 2007 is Lewis Hamilton...He never make any mistake till he slide out of way to the pit.Other than that,the team (McLaren Mercerdes) is the source of Bad News for him.McLaren let L.Hamilton drive his car till the tyre finish!

Hmm, NBL, interesting take .. what did he win??

I must say though, other than yourself, all the ham-fans have been particularly quite this week - after his botched up efforts in the last 2 GPs everyone seems have something better to do than to tell us all how great he is .. yup, he did a great job .. coming 2nd in, by far, the fastest car this season. - He aint no rookie, hes a kookie ..

KIMI RAIKKONEN - WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPION 2007
you can't argue with that!!!

(N)
I think in f1 everyone is winner in his one way which includes sakon!
Btw Hamilton has gain Fame & Reputation faster than any other driver(IMO) provided the car is good but damn you have to be fast to win ..its something no one can deny! From this rookie year he has already gain Bernie's & Fia's vote and lot of support and more crucially the experience! ..greatly have re-activated F1 in his country!

~Peace~

[Bowsey]

I think Lewis Hamilton was a winner, Only being a rookie in his debut season he was quick straight away, he had been very consistent up to the end of the season. Just the pressure at the end got to him, but its all part of the F1 Learning experience.

Another winner I think was Kubica, he has been able to match a more experienced Heidfield and has been quick, just had a few reliability issues,
Also Kova at the end of the season really showed how much a good driver he is, consistently beating Fisi, apart F~0~M his mistakes at the start of the season its been a good year for him.

[HamiltonF1]

NBL & ME says...

The real winner of F1 2007 is Lewis Hamilton...He never make any mistake till he slide out of way to the pit.Other than that,the team (McLaren Mercerdes) is the source of Bad News for him.McLaren let L.Hamilton drive his car till the tyre finish!

Hmm, NBL, interesting take .. what did he win??

I must say though, other than yourself, all the ham-fans have been particularly quite this week - after his botched up efforts in the last 2 GPs everyone seems have something better to do than to tell us all how great he is .. yup, he did a great job .. coming 2nd in, by far, the fastest car this season. - He aint no rookie, hes a kookie ..

KIMI RAIKKONEN - WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPION 2007
you can't argue with that!!!

Whats to tell than ofcourse all Hamilton fans aren't happy but thats life and atleast we wont say bad things about kimi, I must say that the Hamilton fans have responded much more mature on the season when Raikkonen won than the Raikkonen fans when Hamilton won.

To stay ontopic I think Kubica was really good this year Rosberg made some mistakes same as Heiki but he also performed well further in the season. I think Webber had to much bad luck I think he would have a lot more points when he didn't hade those gearbox problems and other retirements.

[lmcsp]

Ahha, thought that would bring you all out of the woodwork ..

[Mozzer56]

Lol, hamilton fans. 1 season experts

[McLaren-F1]

The Real Winners Of 2007: Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes & Lewis Hamilton

[[FIN]SpeedFreak]

The Real Winners Of 2007: Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes & Lewis Hamilton

Well, really. They are biggest loosers of the season. They managed to scew up almost sure WDC title in last two GP's. And that if nothing is good example how unskilled that team is. + Those 100 million fines from their cheating attempt. Kimi is real winner of the season with Ferrari! I am very pleased to see numbers 22 and 23 in McLiarens in next season. Oh incase of FIA accepts their MP4/23 to the grid. It is fairly possilbe that MP4/23 has some major piece's taken from Ferrari's intelligence... But if they have some Ferrari pieces in their new car and they get that worts possible penalty. It would be major loss to Formula 1...