The next sporting event that had the whole world talking was the fight for the Formula 1 World Driver Championship. 2007 produced one of closest ever finish to the championship. There were major changes this year in the team lineups. First, and probably the biggest was, no Schumi. (Hmmm, no Schumi. Will F1 ever be the same… sadly no. Schumi will be missed) So Ferrari had Kimi filling up those Puma shoes. And he did not disappoint. He started with a win. But more than Kimi, it was the new McLaren driver who made the news, no not Alonso, but the rookie, Hamilton. Hamilton had shown F1 pedigree, and he started his F1 career in MP4-22 (which FYI, has been voted the best F1 car this season) with astonishing results. And he being British, the tabloids were quick to herald him as the best thing to have happened to F1. He was the new poster boy of F1. IMHO, I think he was more lucky than good. He was with McLaren for god’s sake. Alonso, I guess, expected to be the no 1 driver at McLaren, so when Hamilton started getting more attention than the current world champion, egos’ were bruised. As we all now know, Alonso and Hamilton didn’t get along. There were numerous incidents during the season that reiterated the animosity between these two drivers that eventually led to Alonso quitting McLaren after the end of the season.

Getting back to the season, McLaren definitely had the faster, more reliable car. Hamilton was getting into the points and on podiums almost every race. Alonso was winning races and aiming at a 3rd straight WDC. But Ferrari kept up the pressure with Kimi and Massa. Massa proved that he too was capable of fighting it out for the top prize. I personally believe that Massa gets rattled under pressure, which is probably why he fell off in the final third part of the season. Ferrari had a late surge, Kimi winning in Spa and Shanghai. Suddenly McLaren didn’t look like they were going to have a cakewalk. In last couple of races, when things got really close, Hamilton crumbled. First he stalled in the gravel while entering the pits in Shanghai, and then in Brasil, he missed his gears.

I must confess, the finale in Brasil couldn’t have been more dramatic. Ferrari came all guns blazing as they had nothing to lose. They had an outstanding Saturday with Massa on pole. Then on the raceday Kimi wrapped up the WDC in style with a little help from his team-mate Massa, who pulled out a brilliant block on Hamilton just after the start allowing Kimi to take the race lead. This must have surely unnerved Hamilton, who as we all know missed gears, and with that vital seconds on the racetrack. Kimi, who not only had to win the last race, but also required Hamilton to finish outside the top six, had one of those races that will forever be etched in F1 folklore. He won the race and thus the championship.

I thought Ferrari, and Kimi deserved it. They were the better team, McLaren paid the price for the bitter unrest between its drivers.

This year also witnessed the infamous spy scandal, which eventually led to McLaren being disqualified from the Constructors’ Championship and a record fine of $100 million. Among other positives, were the return of Spa, performance by teams BMW & Williams and drivers Nick Heidfeld, Nico Rosberg.