What a fascinating season of fluctuating fortunes this 2007 F1 cahampionship was!!!. In the end, for all the hype and attention that the supposedly two McLaren divas attracted, an "ice-cool" driver who doesn't talk much, snatched the championship from under the feet to win a thorughly deserved Drivers championship. The driver who came close twice but made a few mistakes and also had some bad reliability finally wins his 1st World Driver's championship. For all the talk about Lewis Hamilton's rookie season and a two time WDC in the McLaren's, Kimi is an absolutely deserving champion because he has won the max # of races (6), has been the strongest driver from the French GP onwards and above all, has one point more than his rivals.
I have admired Kimi ever since he made his debut with Sauber. He had a real inferior car in 2003 but ran Micheal Schumacher all the way to the end. In 2005, but for some reliability issues, he could have won the championship but had to settle for the second place. He had a listless year in 2006 and finally made the move to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro to replace the man, the legend, the 7-time Driver's champion Micheal Schumacher!!!!. Those are biggggg shoes to fill and obviously there was lot of pressure on Kimi to perform well. Barring the season opener in Australia, he was completely overshadowed by the two McLaren drivers and his own teammate Felipe Massa.
As always, people started talking about how overrated he is and is going to get creamed by his team mate etc etc etc. Added to this was his excuse was that he was still getting used to the new spec Bridgestone tires and many experts were of the view that he being a great driver should not come up with such lame excuses etc. But all along, you never saw Kimi talking back against all those who questioned his talent, the money he is earning, etc etc. He simply believed in himself and stayed focussed. I had attended the F1 in Indianapolis this year and my thought when I got out of the race was that I saw the most inspired Kimi this season, the Kimi of Mclaren days who used to push as if there is no tomorrow. He came fourth but I was certain in my mind that we were going to see a Kimi revival from the next race.
And boy was I right!!!. Kimi put in unbelievable races in France and Britain and since then, barring the DNF in Nurburgring, he has been the most consistent performer among the top 4 drivers. He has had 5 victories and has been on the podium in all other races. His racing in wet in Japan and China was sublime and helped by Massa in Brazil, managed to pull off an amazing victory. He did drive beautifully in Brazil and finally won the championship by one solid point.
And after the race, the world saw Kimi smiling a lot for the first time. A huge monkey must have been off his shoulders. I personally had a view that he might end up as a great driving talent never to win a WDC but he did make it and I was thrilled beyond words!!. yes, it is still not guaranteed with the McLaren appeal set for November 15th, but in my view, the Kimster is the 2007 champion and a thoroughly deserving one too!!!!!
He talks very little, smiles even less but when it comes to his driving he is soooo good that he makes his fans talk a lot and smnile even more!!!!
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