With Michael Schumacher hanging up his crash helmet, Ross Brawn leaving Maranello and Rory Byrne in retirement it really was the start of a new era for the Ferrari team in 2007. The long-standing names that had brought so much success to the Italian squad were all gone and it was down to the new generation to carry on the winning ways.
With Kimi Raikkonen joining Felipe Massa on the driving front the team showed that it had plenty of depth and strength despite the loss of it close long-term technical relationship with Bridgestone.
The industrial espionage scandal involving Nigel Stepney aside, it was a successful campaign with Kimi Raikkonen winning six Grand Prix on his way to the World Championship, while Felipe Massa was a factor until the closing stages of the season, notching up three victories.
Raikkonen’s championship campaign got off to a great start in Melbourne as the Finn converted his pole position into a race win, an accomplishment no Ferrari newcomer had accomplished before on his first outing for the team.
Malaysia and Bahrain brought further podium results while an electrical problem eliminated him from the Spanish Grand Prix and kicked off a difficult phase of the season for Raikkonen. Massa meanwhile took two straight wins in Bahrain and Spain from the pole
An error in qualifying around the streets of Monte Carlo saw Raikkonen qualify a distant 16th but on race day he was able to score one championship point. McLaren dominated the event with Massa finishing over a minute down in third position. Raikkonen’s difficulties continued in Canada and the US as Lewis Hamilton took consecutive wins but Raikkonen bounced back with victories at Magny Cours and Silverstone. A hydraulic failure at the European Grand Prix really put the team on the back foot with Fernando Alonso leading home Massa.
With seven rounds remaining, the championship looked to be heading towards rivals McLaren Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. Raikkonen knew that his chances of success were slim but over the remaining rounds he scored wins at Spa Francorchamps, Shanghai and Interlagos, picking up 58 points in the final races. Hamilton and McLaren hit their own problems scoring just 39 points.
In both China and Brazil, Raikkonen drove flawless races to score maximum points while Hamilton picked up just two points. This was enough to give Raikkonen the drivers’ championship by a single point over his rival.
Raikkonen may not be the all-round team-player that Schumacher was in his decade with the team, but the Finn proved that given the equipment, he is a regular race winner and a very worthy champion.
For Massa, his third and final win of the season came as he dominated the Turkish Grand Prix but an early retirement at Monza effectively ended his title aspirations. He would finish the season on 94 points, 16 adrift of Raikkonen. Brain fade in Montreal, a poor showing in Hungary and a mechanical retirement in Italy all conspired against the Brazilian who will be aiming to bounce back in 2008.
Off track, the constructors’ championship had been wrapped up long ago with the World Motor Sport Council opting to remove McLaren from the contest. Assuming that McLaren would have failed in its bid to reverse the decision to strip it of its Hungarian Grand Prix points, Ferrari would have taken the title in any case.
Raikkonen may not have enjoyed the same bullet-proof reliability enjoyed by Hamilton and Alonso, but six wins from 17 starts including 12 podiums makes for a most successful campaign…
Earl ALEXANDER
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