Hamilton trumps Raikkonen because he's a rookie
— --
Sure, Kimi Raikkonen won the Formula One drivers' championship in 2007, but Lewis Hamilton was more deserving.
Why?
Check out my ratings of the year's top 10 F1 drivers based on the equipment available to them and the circumstances that affected their season.
1 -- Lewis Hamilton , McLaren Mercedes
Placement in championship: tied for second with 109 points
Wins: 4
Poles: 6
Podiums other than wins: 8
Top-eight finishes: 15
The fact that a mere point separated the top three drivers at the end of the championship makes it extremely difficult to choose who was the best in 2007. One could make it a three-way tie, but that would be an easy way out.
Had Hamilton won the title, he certainly would have been rated No. 1. Overall, Raikkonen was the best driver, but Hamilton takes the honors because he went toe-to-toe with the likes of Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso in his rookie season.
Hamilton made some glaring mistakes, such as disobeying team orders in qualifying in Hungary, sliding off the track in China and doing a poor job of pacing the field in Japan. But for a rookie, Hamilton was simply outstanding and thus gets the top slot.
2 -- Kimi Raikkonen , Ferrari
Placement in championship: first with 110 points
Wins: 6
Poles: 3
Podiums other than wins: 6
Top-eight finishes: 15
When Raikkonen easily won the season opener in Australia, many people thought he would walk away with the championship. But Raikkonen went six races without a victory. His weak point was qualifying, which was crucial in 2007, when just about every race was won from the front row of the grid.
Raikkonen made one big mistake during the season, clipping the wall in qualifying in Monaco. That meant he started 16th and earned a solitary point for finishing eighth. By the end of the season, however, Raikkonen and Ferrari were the fastest combination on the track. Raikkonen fully deserved to win the championship, but he gets rated No. 2 because a rookie often beat or equaled him.
3 -- Fernando Alonso , McLaren Mercedes
Placement in championship: tied for second with 109 points
Wins: 4
Poles: 2
Podiums other than wins: 8
Top-eight finishes: 16
Having beaten Raikkonen to the championship in 2005 and Michael Schumacher in 2006, Alonso is one of the best in the business. He was the youngest driver (24) ever to win a F1 world championship, a record 22-year-old Hamilton almost snatched away this season.
When Alonso began the year with McLaren, he knew Hamilton was quick, but he had no idea how blindingly fast the rookie would be. Alonso thought that as a double world champion he should get priority treatment over Hamilton, but he should have known McLaren's policy is always to treat its drivers scrupulously equally.
Alonso reacted with petulance, especially to team boss Ron Dennis, even threatening to reveal to the FIA that he, Alonso, had Ferrari technical secrets in his computer. This behavior drops him to third in the rankings.
Once he adapted his driving style to the new generation of Bridgestone tires, Alonso was very quick, and he failed to finish only once, when he crashed in the rain in Japan. But he did have some sloppy races, such as in Canada, where he floundered around to seventh place.
4 -- Nick Heidfeld , BMW Sauber
Placement in championship: fifth with 61 points
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Podiums other than wins: 2
Top-eight finishes: 14
Quick Nick sometimes escapes the public eye because of his low-key personality. But Heidfeld had an outstanding season in 2007. He finished fourth five times, sneaking into the mix of the McLaren/Ferrari foursome despite their machinery superior to his BMW Sauber.
And when the leaders faltered, Heidfeld pounced. He scored a magnificent second in Canada and a third in Hungary. Heidfeld failed to finish in the points on only three occasions, a streak beaten only by the Ferrari and McLaren drivers.
The fact that BMW Sauber re-signed Heidfeld and Robert Kubica early on for 2008 rather than waiting around to see what Alonso would do shows the immense confidence the team has in its driver pairing.
5 -- Felipe Massa , Ferrari
Placement in championship: fourth with 94 points
Wins: 3
Poles: 6
Podiums other than wins: 7
Top-eight finishes: 14
Massa finished ahead of Heidfeld in the points but behind Raikkonen, Hamilton and Alonso. Many expected Raikkonen, who replaced Schumacher at Ferrari, to blow the doors off Massa, but this certainly didn't happen.
Ferrari and Massa let each other down on occasions. Gearbox woes in Australia meant he had to start 16th and finished only sixth. Then the crew made the unfathomable error of forgetting to put fuel in his car during qualifying in Hungary. Massa won the pole in Malaysia, but a series of mistakes soon dropped him to fifth. He was disqualified for leaving the pits in Canada when the red light was on. In a championship as close as this one, that many errors was a fatal tally.
Still, Massa won three times, and that number would have been four if he hadn't ceded the lead to Raikkonen in Brazil to ensure his teammate won the crown.
6 -- Nico Rosberg , Williams Toyota
Placement in championship: ninth with 20 points
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Podiums other than wins: 0
Top-eight finishes: 7
This kid is going places. The Williams Toyota was far better than the dismal car the team fielded in 2006, but it still was nowhere near as quick as the Ferrari, McLaren or BMW. In the latter third of the season, however, Rosberg was frequently at the front of the fiercely competitive midfield pack.
He's talented enough to catch the attention of the bosses at McLaren and Ferrari. Given the equipment at his disposal, and the fact that he is only in his second season, Rosberg earns the No. 6 slot in the Top 10.
7 -- Robert Kubica , BMW Sauber
Placement in championship: sixth with 39 points
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Podiums other than wins: 0
Top-eight finishes: 11
Another outstanding newcomer, Kubica will be a big star in the future. He made his F1 debut in Hungary last year, replacing departed Jacques Villeneuve, and finished a fabulous third in Italy.
A podium finish escaped him in 2007, but he did score a trio of fourth places. Kubica's aggressive turn-in style into corners didn't work with the Bridgestone tires, and it took him awhile to adjust. His season will be remembered for his horrifying accident in Canada -- from which he emerged virtually unscathed -- and his great on-track battles with Massa in Japan and with Heidfeld and Rosberg in Brazil.
Overall, it was a positive but slightly patchy season for Kubica. He's going to be a lot better in 2008.
8 -- Heikki Kovalainen , Renault
Placement in championship: seventh with 30 points
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Podiums other than wins: 1
Top-eight finishes: 11
Before the season, many thought rookie Kovalainen, who had a year of F1 testing under his belt, would match and beat Hamilton. But it was not to be. Hamilton's McLaren Mercedes was quick and stable, and Kovalainen's Renault was so unpredictable that he lost confidence in the car. And that led to driving errors.
It got to the point that Kovalainen's ride was thought to be in jeopardy. But a new front wing and other aerodynamic updates for the North American races turned his season around. After that, he earned a steady stream of points, culminating with a fabulous second in the rain in Japan, where he held off an attacking Raikkonen.
Kovalainen finished ahead of vastly more experienced teammate Giancarlo Fisichella in the final points standings, and that is why "Kovi" is in the Top 10 and "Fisi" is not.
9 -- Mark Webber , Red Bull Renault
Placement in championship: 12th with 10 points
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Podiums other than wins: 1
Top-eight finishes: 3
One of the fastest drivers in F1 on a single qualifying lap, Webber qualified in the top 10 on 12 occasions in 2007. In the races, however, the poor reliability (almost always related to the gearbox and hydraulics) of the Red Bull let him down again and again.
Webber frequently ran about ninth place, just behind the Ferraris, McLarens and BMWs. He scored a strong third place in the tricky and rainy conditions of the European Grand Prix. And he was lined up to finish third, maybe second and perhaps even first in Japan until Sebastian Vettel punted him off while they were trailing the pace car.
Webber and teammate David Coulthard brought a lot of stability and experience to Red Bull, but the car was rarely up to the job. Coulthard earned more points than Webber, but the latter's podium finish slots him into the Top 10.
10 -- Jenson Button , Honda
Placement in championship: 15th with 6 points
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Podiums other than wins: 0
Top-eight finishes: 3
In the final six races of 2006, Button earned more points than Alonso and Schumacher, and he finally took his maiden Grand Prix victory. In 2007, Button didn't score a single point until midseason, and even then it was only with an eighth place in France.
He finished in the points only twice more, eighth in Turkey and fifth in China. Button's silky smooth driving style did not evaporate in the offseason, but the performance of the Honda did. The problem was with the car's aerodynamics, and it was so intrinsic that it couldn't be cured.
In the rain, when driving skill really matters, Button proved his talent with his fifth in China. He would have finished in the points in the treacherous conditions in Japan, as well, if he and Heidfeld hadn't collided.
Dan Knutson covers Formula One for National Speed Sport News and ESPN.com.
Related Stories
ABC News Live