It featured a fierce battle for the drivers’ championship between three drivers: Kimi Räikkönen of Ferrari, and Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso of McLaren. It also featured a spy scandal that rocked the sport and resulted in McLaren being disqualified from the constructors’ championship.
One of the most dramatic moments of the season happened in the penultimate race, the Chinese Grand Prix. Hamilton, who was leading the championship by 12 points over Alonso and 17 points over Räikkönen, had a chance to clinch the title with one race to spare. He started from pole position and led for most of the race, until he made a crucial mistake on lap 31.
Hamilton’s tyres were badly worn and he was losing grip and time to his rivals. He decided to pit for fresh tyres, but as he entered the pit lane, he locked up his brakes and slid off into the gravel trap. He was unable to get out and had to retire from the race. This meant that he scored no points and his championship lead was reduced to four points over Alonso and seven points over Räikkönen.
Hamilton’s misfortune opened up the title race for the final round in Brazil. Räikkönen, who had won the Chinese Grand Prix, needed to win again and hope that Hamilton finished sixth or lower and Alonso third or lower. Hamilton, on the other hand, needed to finish fifth or higher to secure the title, regardless of what his rivals did. Alonso needed to finish second or higher and hope that Hamilton finished third or lower.
The Brazilian Grand Prix was another nail-biting affair. Hamilton started from second on the grid, but lost several positions at the start due to a gearbox glitch. He then collided with Alonso’s teammate Heikki Kovalainen and damaged his car. He dropped to 18th place and had to fight his way back through the field.
Meanwhile, Räikkönen took advantage of Hamilton’s troubles and moved up from third to second behind Felipe Massa, his Ferrari teammate. Massa let Räikkönen pass him on lap 50 and gave him the lead of the race. Alonso was running in fourth place behind Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber.
Hamilton managed to recover to seventh place by lap 66, but he needed one more position to clinch the title. He tried to overtake Giancarlo Fisichella of Renault, but could not find a way past him. On lap 69, Kubica pitted from third place and rejoined behind Hamilton. However, Kubica quickly passed Hamilton again on lap 70 and pushed him back to seventh.
The race ended with Räikkönen taking his sixth win of the season and scoring 10 points. Alonso finished third behind Massa and scored six points. Hamilton finished seventh behind Kubica and Fisichella and scored two points. This meant that Räikkönen, Alonso and Hamilton all ended up with 109 points in the drivers’ standings.
However, Räikkönen was declared the world champion by virtue of having more wins than his rivals (six versus four for Alonso and Hamilton). He became the first driver since James Hunt in 1976 to win the title by one point in the final race of the season. He also became the third Finnish driver to win the title after Keke Rosberg and Mika Häkkinen.
The 2007 Formula One season was a true story of drama, suspense and surprise. It showed how one mistake can change everything in a sport where every second counts. It also showed how one driver can overcome all odds and achieve his dream of becoming a world champion.
