Formula One back in the fast lane

THE 2007 Formula One season was the most the thrilling racing campaign in years. And all it took was one of the biggest corruption scandals ever seen in sport, a hotshot British driver and nail-biting finish. Bring on 2008. 

Last season was without a doubt the most exciting year Formula One has seen in recent memory, and next season promises to be no different. There have been a lot of changes behind the scenes since the dramatic final race of the season in Brazil, and we should expect many more changes by the time when the next campaign gets under way in Melbourne.

That’s not until March, but there are already big questions being posed about the 2008 campaign. Who will Fernando Alonso be driving for? Can World Champion Kimi Raikkonen build on his surprise victory for Ferrari? And can Lewis Hamilton fulfil his potential and clinch the driver’s championship?

Unsurprisingly Alonso has exited team McLaren after a turbulent year. The Spaniard finished third in the title decider, just one point behind eventual winner Raikkonen, but it was a hard year for Alonso, both on and off the track. Major fallouts with Hamilton and team boss Ron Dennis lead to his inevitable departure.

Usually by now teams have announced their drivers for the forthcoming season, but Alonso has yet to choose a new team and McLaren find a replacement. If Alonso does, as expected, return to Renault that could pave the way for Heikki Kovalainen to join McLaren. But if we’ve learned one thing from Formula 1 it is that things never go as expected. There were rumours of Ferrari possibly offering Alonso a contract, but Massa and Raikkonen have both penned long-term contracts.

Raikkonen had to wait until the middle of November to be announced champion, after McLaren lodged an appeal for Hamilton to be moved up from 5th from his 7th place finish in Brazil, (because the 5th and 6th place finishers were found guilty of having illegal fuel structures). If the appeal had been successful it would’ve made Hamilton world champion, but it was thrown out by the FIA.

Hamilton’s performances were incredible. The rookie broke all kinds of records, and not even the massive troubles he was having with his racing partner, Alonso, or the spy gate scandal seemed to scare this focused young driver. But his performances at the tail end of the season cost him the chance to become the first ever rookie World Champion. However we’ll all be watching next season to see if he can capture the crown.

The biggest news of the winter so far is that Michael Schumacher is back testing for Ferrari. All parties concerned have been quick to deny any possibility of Schumacher returning to racing, but if he decides he does want to return, could Ferrari really pass up that opportunity?

2007 saw Ferrari regain both the constructors and the drivers’ titles, having missed out on both for the past two seasons. They won the constructors by a whopping 103 points over second place BMW Sauber; albeit their victory was due to McLaren been thrown out of the race for possessing confidential Ferrari documents.

The biggest improvement of the 2007 campaign was the incredible performance of the BMW Sauber; they didn’t manage to win any races but took massive strides to catching Ferrari and McLaren. Meanwhile the biggest disappointment was definitely Renault. They fell from being Drivers and Constructors champions in 2006 to 7th and 8th in the Drivers Championship and a lowly third in the Constructor’s contest. After a terrible start to the season they recovered quite well, but the 2006 champions will expect a much better performance next season, maybe with Alonso back at the helm.

McLaren and Renault are the only two teams who have yet to confirm their drivers for next year. McLaren have confirmed Hamilton but are waiting for an Alonso replacement. Renault is waiting for Alonso to decide on his future and whether to partner him with Kovalainen or Fisichella.

While Formula 1 tries to recover from the spy gate scandal, it’s been announced that Renault are being charged for possessing confidential documents belonging to McLaren. Renault is due in court to answer these charges; they’ve admitted containing the documents but deny any use of them. However they could face similar heavy charges after McLaren’s $100 million earlier this year for similar charges and they were also thrown out of the Constructors’ championship. They meet the FIA world motor sport council on December 6.

There are still so many questions to be answered over the winter months: What punishment will Renault face? Where will Alonso end up? Who will partner Lewis Hamilton? Will Schumacher return to racing?
But the most important one of all is can Kimi Raikkonen defend his title or are we going to have a new Formula 1 World Champion in 2008? Hamilton will want to avenge his horrific end to last years campaign and Alonso will want his crown back.

There is bound to be many more twists and turns before the season gets under way. It all gets under way on Sunday March 16, so mark a reminder in your calendar. 2008 promises to be the most exciting Formula 1 season yet.

- Chris Blake