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The2007 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 61st season ofFIAFormula One motor racing. It began on 18 March and ended on 21 October after seventeen events. The Drivers' Championship was won by Ferrari driverKimi Räikkönen by one point at thefinal race of the season, making him the third Finnish driver to take the title. An appeal byMcLaren regarding the legality of some cars in the final race could have altered the championship standings,[1] but on 16 November, the appeal was rejected by the International Court of Appeal, confirming the championship results.[2] Räikkönen entered the final race in third position in the drivers' standings, but emerged as champion after the chequered flag, a feat first accomplished byGiuseppe Farina in1950.
A major talking point of the season had been anespionage controversy involvingFerrari andMcLaren, which led to McLaren being excluded from the Constructors' Championship. As a result,Ferrari clinched the championship at theBelgian Grand Prix.[3] Defending double Constructors' ChampionsRenault proved to be uncompetitive with theirR27 car taking them to third in the constructors' standings (after McLaren's exclusion) and ended up win-less for the first time since the 2002 season.[4] Renault achieved one podium during the season, withHeikki Kovalainen finishing second at the rain affected2007 Japanese Grand Prix.
The 2007 season heralded the end of the existingConcorde Agreement between the existingFormula One constructors andBernie Ecclestone. In particular,Mercedes-Benz,BMW, andHonda (collectively theGrand Prix Manufacturers' Association) had a number of outstanding disagreements with the FIA and Ecclestone on financial and technical grounds. They had threatened to boycott Formula One from the 2008 season onwards and instead stage their own rival series, before signing amemorandum of understanding (MoU) at the2006 Spanish Grand Prix.[5]
2007 also marked the seventh and final season, since its reintroduction in2001, in which the use oftraction control was permitted inFormula One. Standardisedelectronic control units (ECUs) were mandated by theFIA from the2008 season onwards, which prohibited teams from usingthis kind of technology.[6][7] The season also saw the debuts of future world championsLewis Hamilton andSebastian Vettel.
Honda ran with an "Earth livery" on theirRA107 car. It was the first time since1968, the year in which sponsorship in the sport became widespread,[8] that a team ran sponsor-free for an entire season.Michelin's withdrawal from F1 at the end of 2006 meant thatBridgestone was the sole tyre supplier once more for 2007, having previously been F1's sole tyre manufacturer for the1999 and2000 seasons.
As of 2025[update], this is the last Drivers' Championship won by aFerrari driver and the last drivers' title won by aFinnish driver to date in Formula One.
The followingteams anddrivers participated in the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. Drivers' cars are numbered as per the official FIA 2007 entry list.[9] All team details are as per the Formula 1 official website, except where noted. Note that there is no car number 13, as is the historical tradition. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Bridgestone.
Three constructors entered free practice only drivers over the course of the season:Sebastian Vettel forBMW Sauber at the opening two rounds,Christian Klien forHonda at theBritish Grand Prix andKazuki Nakajima forWilliams at five Grands Prix.
| Constructor | Practice drivers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Driver name | Rounds | ||
| Honda | 34 |  Christian Klien | 9 | |
| BMW Sauber | 35 |  Sebastian Vettel | 1–2 | |
| Williams–Toyota | 38 |  Kazuki Nakajima | 1–2, 6–7, 16 | |
The 2005 and 2006 World ChampionFernando Alonso switched toMcLaren after five years atRenault. Following the retirement ofMichael Schumacher andJacques Villeneuve, Alonso was the only driver on the grid in this season who had previously won a drivers' championship.
Juan Pablo Montoya, who was a McLaren driver until the aftermath of the2006 United States Grand Prix moved to theNASCAR Cup Series for 2007, effectively ending his Formula One career, as announced on 9 July 2006.
On 2 August 2006,Williams announced that test and reserve driverAlexander Wurz would step up to a race seat for 2007, replacing AustralianMark Webber. On 7 August 2006,Red Bull Racing announced their 2007 driver line-up ofDavid Coulthard andMark Webber, displacingChristian Klien. On 7 August 2006,BMW Sauber announced thatJacques Villeneuve's contract had been terminated immediately and for the rest of the season would be replaced by test driverRobert Kubica. Kubica was later announced on 19 October 2006 to retain the race seat for the 2007 season, withSebastian Vettel remaining as the team's test driver. On 21 December 2006 BMW Sauber announced formerJordan F1 andGP2 driverTimo Glock as their second test driver.
On 6 September 2006,Renault confirmedHeikki Kovalainen as the team's replacement forFernando Alonso. On 10 September 2006,Scuderia Ferrari announcedKimi Räikkönen to replace the retiringMichael Schumacher.
On 15 November 2006,Super Aguri confirmedAnthony Davidson asSakon Yamamoto's replacement. On 24 November 2006,McLaren confirmedLewis Hamilton, their junior program driver who won theGP2 Series title that year as their second driver.
On 21 December 2006,Spyker confirmedAdrian Sutil as their first driver, replacingWTCC-boundTiago Monteiro.
On 10 July 2007,Spyker announced thatChristijan Albers would no longer be driving for the team. The given reason was a failure to pay sponsorship monies due.Markus Winkelhock raced Spyker's second car at the European Grand Prix. On 25 July 2007 Spyker confirmed that the Japanese driverSakon Yamamoto would compete in the remaining seven Grands Prix for them.[10] On 31 July 2007,Scuderia Toro Rosso replacedScott Speed with BMW test driverSebastian Vettel following an alleged physical altercation between Speed and STR Team PrincipalFranz Tost.[13]
On 8 October 2007,Williams driverAlexander Wurz announced his immediate retirement from Formula One racing.[14] Williams test driverKazuki Nakajima replaced Wurz for theBrazilian Grand Prix.[15]
Ferrari technical director,Ross Brawn, was to take asabbatical year for 2007, after ten seasons at the Italian team since 1997. However, it was later announced that he would leave the team.[16] In2008, Ross Brawn became Team Principal of theHonda team.
McLaren signed a title sponsorship deal with the telecommunications companyVodafone late in 2005. With the loss ofVodafone,Scuderia Ferrari began a sponsorship deal with Alice, a brand ofTelecom Italia.
Mild Seven confirmed that they would not renew their contract withRenault following its conclusion at the end of 2006 due to current European tobacco laws.[17]
British American Tobacco'sLucky Strike and555 brands ceased to sponsor theHonda team, following which the team ran a sponsorless livery in 2007.
Williams changed their engines fromCosworth toToyota in a three-year deal until 2009. Contrary to speculation at the time, the engines were not rebadged as Lexus.[18]
Red Bull officially became an Austrian constructor by receiving anAustrian licence, though continued to operate from the same base in Britain.[19]
On 9 September 2006,MF1 Racing was officially sold to a Dutch-Arab consortium owned byMichiel Mol, along with the aid ofSpyker Cars. The team was officially renamedSpykerMF1 Team, keeping theMF1 for the rest of the season due to Concorde Agreement rules.[20] On 30 September 2006,Spyker announced that their engine supplier would beFerrari.[21]
On 16 October 2006,Renault confirmed that the Dutch banking companyING would become their main sponsor to replaceMild Seven, which has sponsored the Enstone-based team during the 13 years since 1994.[22] On 20 October 2006,Williams announcedAT&T as their new main sponsor.[23] On 24 October 2006,Spyker announced they would change their name fromSpyker MF1 Team toSpyker F1 from 2007 onwards, subject to all other teams giving their agreement.[24][25] On 31 October 2006,Red Bull confirmed their engine situation for 2007.Renault engines were used byRed Bull Racing, whileScuderia Toro Rosso used 2006-specFerrari engines. As a result ofRed Bull Racing switching toRenault engines, this marked the first timeRenault had supplied more than one team in the sport since the1997 season (when it suppliedWilliams andBenetton) as a fully-fledged engine manufacturer (although from1998 to2000 Renault had supplied more than one team but underMecachrome,Playlife andSupertec brandings respectively).[26] As a result of Spyker and Toro Rosso switching toFerrari customer engines, this marked the first timeFerrari had supplied more than two teams in the sport since the2001 season when it usedPetronas branding for the engines it supplied toSauber andAcer branding for the engines it supplied toProst.
On 15 March 2007, Spyker announced their new title sponsor for the 2007 season:United Arab Emirates airline companyEtihad Airways.[27]
On 30 September 2006,Cosworth announced that they would temporarily withdraw from Formula One as an engine supplier, citing lack of room for supplying engines for private teams after Williams switched to Toyota engines and Spyker opted for Ferrari engines from 2007 season onwards and thus for the first time since 1962 a Formula One season did not feature Cosworth-powered cars.[28] However the company would return to the sport from2010 season onwards.[29]
On 29 August 2006, the FIA published a provisional calendar for the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. TheSan Marino andEuropean Grands Prix were excluded, although the European round would later make a comeback (see below).[32] The final calendar (above), which confirmed that the San Marino Grand Prix would not return, was released on 18 October 2006.[33]
For the first time in nearly half a century, noGerman Grand Prix was held as a result of the circuits previously hosting a Grand Prix in Germany beginning to alternate in organizing the German Grand Prix. However, the promoter for theHockenheim race controlled the rights to the descriptor "German Grand Prix" and an agreement could not be reached between them and theNürburgring circuits for the naming rights. The Nürburgring event therefore retained its usualEuropean Grand Prix title.[34]
After twenty years of being hosted at theHonda-ownedSuzuka Circuit since 1987, theJapanese Grand Prix moved toToyota's rebuiltFuji Speedway, a circuit that F1 had not raced at since1977.
TheBelgian Grand Prix atSpa-Francorchamps returned after a one-year absence in 2006 due to track maintenance.
For the first time since1975, no country hosted more than one Grand Prix.
Pre-season testing began in November 2006 at theCircuit de Catalunya, with ten of the eleven teams participating in the test sessions. The most notable absentees wereFernando Alonso andKimi Räikkönen, who were still under contract atRenault andMcLaren respectively.Jenson Button was also absent as he had suffered a hairline fracture on his ribs after a go-karting accident in preparations for the November tests.Lewis Hamilton made his first appearance in a McLaren since being confirmed as Alonso's teammate for 2007.
Felipe Massa topped the times on the first two days of testing. Massa's testing partner,Luca Badoer, took the fastest time on the third day, although interest was on the fact that double World ChampionMika Häkkinen joined Hamilton and de la Rosa at McLaren for a one-off test, although theFinnish driver was over three seconds slower than Badoer's time, completing 79 laps of the Spanish circuit.
The other big story of 2007 was the return to a single tyre supplier (Bridgestone). It was perceived that this accounted for some of the reason why Ferrari led the early tests, although it was claimed by Bridgestone that the 2007 tyre is of a completely new build, thus minimising any real benefit for the 2006 Bridgestone teams (Ferrari,Toyota,Williams,Midland/Spyker andSuper Aguri).
Toyota was the only team out for the fourth day of testing at Barcelona, as the Japanese works team chose to miss the first day of testing. BothRalf Schumacher andJarno Trulli's fastest laps were quicker than Massa and Badoer's times during the previous three sessions. Testing resumed on 6 December atJerez, with the majority of teams attending the session. Both Ferraris of Massa and Badoer were first and second fastest, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton making up the top three in third. Hamilton improved on his position the following day by taking the fastest time, a second faster than Renault'sGiancarlo Fisichella.
Japanese works teamsHonda andToyota topped the times for the next two days of testing: Honda'sRubens Barrichello and Toyota'sFranck Montagny were fastest, although Toyota had the Jerez track to themselves when Montagny took the fastest time.Heikki Kovalainen andPedro de la Rosa took the fastest times on the fourth and fifth day of testing at Jerez. Also of note, on the last day of testing Fernando Alonso made his McLaren testing debut after an agreement with managerFlavio Briatore. This did not call for an end to his agreement (which ended on 31 December).
The season started atAlbert Park in Australia on 18 March.Kimi Räikkönen led the whole race, and became the fourth driver to win on their debut for Ferrari.Fernando Alonso came second and debutantLewis Hamilton finished 3rd.Felipe Massa took his first pole of the season inMalaysia but Alonso won his first race with McLaren while Hamilton finished second. Massa led the entire race to win in bothBahrain andSpain, and in both races Hamilton finished second, becoming the first rookie to finish on the podium in more than his first two outings. McLaren dominatedMonaco with Alonso winning from Hamilton after the pair had lapped everybody apart from themselves and Felipe Massa, who was not too far from being lapped.[52]
TheCanadian GP included four safety car periods and one of the biggest crashes of Formula One in that era.[53] The race started off with the second all-McLaren front row with Hamilton taking his first pole position followed by Alonso. Alonso made a mistake in turn 1, losing several places while Hamilton was opening a gap between himself and Nick Heidfeld. On lap 22 the first safety car period began after Adrian Sutil hit the concrete wall. The safety car went into the pits on lap 28 but before the lap could be completed Robert Kubica had a massive accident. He had lost his front wing after hitting Jarno Trulli. He then went wide and hit a bump on the grass that launched him into the air and into a violent impact with the retaining barrier at a peak deceleration of 75G. The safety car was once again deployed and went in on lap 35. Hamilton once again opened up a gap to second-placed Heidfeld until lap 50 when Christijan Albers left a lot of debris on the track after a crash forcing the deployment of the safety car. The race restarted on lap 55 and the safety car was deployed again on lap 56 after Vitantonio Liuzzi hit the so-called 'Wall of Champions'. The safety car period was extended after Jarno Trulli hit the tyre barrier at the exit of the pitlane after trying to catch up with the field. On the restart Hamilton led to the finish to claim his maiden win in his sixth race. The next race at Indianapolis saw Hamilton lead from the start until victory after a 300 km/h side by side battle with Alonso for the lead. Ferrari took their first 1–2 finish of the season in France with Kimi Räikkönen winning from polesitter, Felipe Massa.
InBritain Hamilton took his third pole position, going on to finish a distant third behind winner Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso.Europe (Germany) would see Hamilton's run of nine consecutive podiums come to an end. After a large crash in qualifying he started in 10th in the race. On lap 4 he aquaplaned off the circuit in a torrential rainstorm but the race was stopped. He restarted after his car was pulled out of the gravel but after taking a gamble to change early to dry tyres on a drying track, he spun off several times but recovered to finish 9th, just missing out on the final point.
After a qualifying incident between Alonso and Hamilton in which Alonso prevented Hamilton from completing his final flying lap, Alonso was demoted to 6th on the grid at theHungarian Grand Prix while McLaren was made ineligible for points for the constructors' championship for that race. Hamilton then took victory with Räikkönen coming second. InTurkey Felipe Massa took a dominant victory followed by Räikkönen and Alonso. Hamilton finished fifth after he suffered a tyre failure while running in 3rd. InItaly Alonso won from Hamilton followed by Räikkönen. Following that Grand Prix McLaren was excluded from the constructors' championship after having been foundguilty of theft and illegal usage of confidentional technical information of Ferrari. The team did not receive any constructors' points from subsequent races.[54] InBelgium Räikkönen won from Massa and Alonso, thus allowing Ferrari to clinch the world constructors' championship from BMW Sauber following McLaren's exclusion.
TheJapanese Grand Prix moved toFuji Speedway. The event was marked by treacherous weather and was started behind the safety car. Lewis Hamilton survived a brush with Robert Kubica to win from Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Räikkönen. At the last three corners Kubica and Felipe Massa ran side by side in a battle for 6th, while Fernando Alonso aquaplaned and crashed on lap 41 of 67. In China, Hamilton won his 6th pole of the season and led up to lap 28 when he was overtaken by Räikkönen and he then spun off entering the pitlane. The season finale marked the first time since1986 that three drivers had a chance of becoming World Champion at the season finale, and the first time since the inaugural season in1950 that the man who stood in third before the final race went on to win the championship (the driver in 1950 beingGiuseppe Farina). Hamilton was the favourite with 107 points followed by Alonso with 103 points and Räikkönen with 100 points. Hamilton started 2nd but dropped to the back of the pack after a gearbox problem. He recovered to 7th but Räikkönen won the race and the championship. The final standings were Räikkönen with 110 points followed by Hamilton and Alonso each with 109 points. Räikkönen's late charge, following worse luck at the start of the season, would narrowly give him the World Drivers' Championship. With Hamilton and Alonso level on points their positions were determined by countback. Each driver had won four races, but Hamilton had five second-place finishes to Alonso's four, so he was awarded second place in the Championship, with Alonso third.
Points were awarded to the top eight classified finishers using the following structure:[57]
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
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