Peugeot's lead car has an all-F1 driver squad

The Le Mans 24 Hours has been won by 64 different F1 drivers since it was first held in 1923. Last year the winning car was piloted by three former F1 racers – Alexander Wurz, Marc Gene and David Brabham.

This year 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell is among the 24 F1 drivers taking part in the great race. He’s joined by, among others, recent F1 racers Giancarlo Fisichella and Romain Grosjean.

Find out which cars each of the F1 drivers are in for this year’s race below.

LMP1 class

Peugeot 908

Anthony Davidson
Team Peugeot, Peugeot 908 HDi FAP #1

Last F1 start: 2008 Spanish Grand Prix, Super Aguri-Honda, DNF (radiator)

Davidson, who drove for Aston Martin last year, has joined two of last year’s outright winners, Alexander Wurz and Marc Gene. Car number one is the only all-F1 driver team in this year’s race.

His F1 career was limited to two appearances for Minardi in 2002, a stand-in drive for Takuma Sato at BAR in 2005 (which lasted a handful of laps) and a season-and-a-bit for Super Aguri as Sato’s team mate from 2007-2008.

Alexander Wurz
Team Peugeot, Peugeot 908 HDi FAP #1

Last F1 result: 2007 Chinese Grand Prix, Williams-Toyota, 12th

Shared the winning Peugeot last year for his second Le Mans win. His first was in 1996, the year before he made his F1 debut for Benetton.

Spent three years with Benetton before being dropped by Flavio Briatore. After a long stint as a McLaren test driver – including a one-off start and third place at Imola in 2005 – he returned to race for Williams in 2007. But Wurz retired from the sport before the season finale at Interlagos.

Marc Gene
Team Peugeot, Peugeot 908 HDi FAP #1

Last F1 result: 2004 British Grand Prix, Williams-BMW, 12th

Became the first Spanish driver to win the race last year.

Ferrari test driver Gene raced for Minardi and also made three starts for Williams as a substitute in 2003 and 2004. But he was replaced by Antonio Pizzonia following his last F1 start at Silverstone.

Stephane Sarrazin
Team Peugeot, Peugeot 908 HDi FAP #2

Last F1 result: 1999 Brazilian Grand Prix, Minardi-Ford, DNF (accident)

His F1 career lasted 31 laps when he substituted for Luca Badoer at Minardi in the 1999 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Franck Montagny
Team Peugeot, Peugeot 908 HDi FAP #2

Last F1 result: 2006 French Grand Prix, Super Aguri-Honda, 16th

Another driver who only raced in F1 as a substitute. Former Renault development driver Montagny drove for Super Aguri in 2006 after the team were forced to drop Yuji Ide, and stayed only until the team replaced him with Sakon Yamamoto.

Sebastien Bourdais
Peugeot Sport, Peugeot 908 HDi FAP #3

Last F1 result: 2009 German Grand Prix, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, DNF (hydraulics)

Dropped by Toro Rosso halfway through last year after lagging behind rookie team mate Sebastien Buemi rather too often.

Bourdais is one of few drivers in recent years to have driven at Le Mans while being an active F1 driver, as he did last year.

Pedro Lamy
Peugeot Sport, Peugeot 908 HDi FAP #3

Last F1 start: 1996 Japanese Grand Prix, Minardi-Ford, 12th

Best remembered for a shocking testing crash at Silverstone in 1994 where his Lotus cleared the barriers at the old Abbey curve, following which the corner was changed into a chicane for that year’s British Grand Prix.

Lamy returned for Minardi in the middle of 1995 and stayed until the end of the following season. He claimed just one point during his F1 career, finishing sixth at Adelaide in 1995.

Olivier Panis
Team ORECA, Peugeot 908 HDi FAP #4

Last F1 result: 2004 Japanese Grand Prix, Toyota, 14th

The 1996 Monaco Grand Prix winner is driving for ORECA for the third year in a row at Le Mans, but this time he has the benefit of driving the same make car which won the race last year.

Panis spent the first seven years of his F1 team driving for Ligier, which in 1997 became Prost. Following a year as a McLaren test driver he returned to racing with BAR in 2001 before moving to Toyota. Even after retiring from F1 racing at the end of 2005 he remained a Toyota test driver for two more years.

Nigel Mansell
Beechdean Mansell Motorsport, Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S #5

Last F1 start: 1995 Spanish Grand Prix, McLaren-Mercedes, DNF (handling)

The 1992 world champion finally makes his first start at Le Mans having tried to do so while racing for Lotus in the 1980s, and being denied the opportunity by Colin Chapman.

Mansell and sons Leo and Greg are driving a Ginetta run by themselves and British GT team Beechdean. Appropriately enough, it’s car number five. They aren’t likely to trouble the frontrunners in the LMP1 class – but can they keep running to the end of the 24 hours?

Audi R15-plus

Allan McNish
Audi Sport Team Joest, Audi R15-plus TDi #7

Last F1 start: 2002 United States Grand Prix, Toyota, 15th

While Peugeot have seven ex-F1 drivers in their factory squad, McNich is the only former Formula 1 pilot in the Audi camp. He drove for Toyota in 2002 but missed the last race of the season after a savage crash in qualifying at Suzuka.

A two-time Le Mans winner in 1998 and 2008, McNish is part of Audi’s crack squad including Rinaldo Capello and eight-time winner Tom Kristensen seeking to reclaim the supermacy at the event they lost to Peugeot last year.

Emanuele Pirro
Drayson Racing, Lola-Judd B09/60 #11

Last F1 start: 1991 Australian Grand Prix, Scuderia Italia Dallara-Judd, 7th

Five-times Le Mans 24 Hours winner returns to the race having missed it last year. He joins the team run by Lord Drayson (who also drives for them), who have moved up to LMP1 having raced an Aston Martin in the GT2 class last year.

Pirro drove for Benetton and Scuderia Italia during his F1 career which lasted from 1989 to 1991.

Jean-Christophe Boullion
Rebellion Racing, Lola-Judd B08/60 #13

Last F1 result: 1995 Pacific Grand Prix, Sauber-Ford, DNF

Drove the Pescarolo-run 908 last year, this year Boullion is with Rebellion Racing.

During his F1 career he also had the opportunity to sample the dominant Williams-Renaults of the early 1990s, though only as a test driver. He raced in 1995 for Sauber, standing in for Karl Wendlinger for much of the season.

Christijan Albers
Kolles, Audi R10 TDi #14

Last F1 result: 2007 British Grand Prix, Spyker-Ferrari, 15th

Albers was dropped by Spyker in 2007 one race after he dragged his fuel hose out of the pit lane in Magny-Cours during the French Grand Prix.

He is reunited with former team boss Colin Kolles who has entered a pair of last-generation diesel Audis – the R10s. This is his first appearance at Le Mans.

LMP2 class

ARX-01c

David Brabham
Highcroft Racing, HPD ARX-01c #26

Last F1 result: 1994 Australian Grand Prix, Simtek-Ford, DNF (engine)

David Brabham drove for father Jack’s team in 1990 and Simtek in 1994 – neither of which were especially competitive prospects.

He’s had better machinery at his disposal at Le Mans. Last year he was an outright winner in a Peugeot 908. This year he’s driving the first of the ARX-01 cars to compete at Le Mans. These were created by Virgin designer Nick Wirth and, like his VR-01, were produced entirely using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).

Hideki Noda
KSM Lola-Judd B07/40 #39

Last F1 result: 1994 Australian Grand Prix, Larrousse-Ford, DNF

This will be Noda’s third time at Le Mans, giving him as many starts in the 24 Hours as he had in F1. He drove for Larrousse in 1994.

He suffered a massive crash during qualifying in his first appearance at La Sarthe in 2008, flipping his Lola-Mazda several times.

GT1 class

Tomas Enge
Young Driver AMR, Aston Martin DBR9 #52

Last F1 start: 2001 Japanese Grand Prix, Prost-Acer, DNF (gearbox)

Enge drove one of the gorgeous works Aston Martins last year. This year he’s in an Aston again but this time it’s a GT1 DBR9.

His single seater career is best remembered for the failed drugs test which cost him the 2002 F3000 championship. He made three F1 starts for Prost in 2001 after Jean Alesi left to join Jordan.

Romain Grosjean
Match Competition, Ford GT #60

Last F1 start: 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Renault, 18th

Having failed to land an LMP1 seat for his first Le Mans 24 Hours, Grosjean is driving a Ford GT for Matech, as he does in the GT1 World Championship.

He made seven starts for Renault last year after taking Nelson Piquet Jnr’s place at the team. But he was not retained for 2010, the team preferring to promote his former GP2 team mate Vitaly Petrov instead.

GT2 class

Jan Magnussen
Corvette Racing, Chevrolet Corvette C6.R #63

Last F1 result: 1998 Canadian Grand Prix, Stewart-Ford, 6th

Magnussen stays with Corvette for this year’s race. But having won the GT1 class with them last year, this year they are competing in GT2.

He made a single start for McLaren in the Pacific Grand Prix in 1995 and showed some promise. But he rarely delivered on that when he spend a year-and-a-half with Stewart Grand Prix from 1997 to 1998, eventually being dropped for Jos Verstappen.

Olivier Beretta
Corvette Racing, Chevrolet Corvette C6.R #64

Last F1 result: 1994 Hungarian Grand Prix, Larrousse-Ford, 9th

Also sticking with Corvette this year, Monegasque driver Beretta made ten starts for Larrousse in 1994.

Gianmaria Bruni
AF Corse Ferrari 430 GT #78

Last F1 result: 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix, 17th

Bruni has had a successful career in sports cars since his sole F1 season for Minardi in 2004.

Eric van de Poele
Risi Competizione Ferrari 430 GT #83

Last F1 result: 1992 Italian Grand Prix, Fondmetal-Ford, DNF

Van de Poele is in the same car as last year, which is probably not that much slower than the Modena and Brabham cars he drove during his F1 stint in 1991 and 1992.

His last three appearances for Fondmental were a step forward in that he at least had a car that was capable of qualifying – having started just two of the previous 26 races he’d entered.

Giancarlo Fisichella
AF Corse, Ferrari 430 GT #95

Last F1 result: 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Ferrari, 16th

Fisichella’s F1 career came to an end last year after 231 starts for teams including Jordan, Benetton, Sauber, Renault, Force India and finally Ferrari. He won three times and nearly gave Force India their maiden victory at Spa last year.

Now a Ferrari F1 test driver he competes for them in GT racing and this will be the 37-year-old’s first Le Mans 24 Hours.

Jean Alesi
AF Corse, Ferrari 430 GT #95

Last F1 result: 2001 Japanese Grand Prix, Jordan-Honda, DNF (accident)

Fisichella is sharing his car with another veteran of over 200 F1 races, Jean Alesi. This is the only car which isn’t a Peugeot to feature more than one F1 driver.

Alesi scored on his debut for Tyrrell in 1989 and famously jousted with Ayton Senna at Phoenix the following year. He switched to Ferrari as the team were heading into one of their periodic slumps but finally won for the team at Montreal in 1995.

After drives for Benetton, Sauber and Prost he ended his career at Jordan – suffering a heavy crash with Kimi Räikkönen during the 2001 Japanese Grand Prix.

Mika Salo
AF Corse, Ferrari 430 GT #96

Last F1 result: 2002 Japanese Grand Prix, Toyota, 8th

Forever remembered as the driver who gave up what would have been his only F1 win at the Hockenheimring to support Ferrari team mate Eddie Irvine’s failed bid for the world championship.

After being unceremoniously dumped out of F1 by Toyota in 2002, Salo eventually moved to GT racing, winning the American GT2 championship in 2007. This is his fourth appearance at Le Mans, he won the GT2 category last year driving for Risi Competizione.

Other famous names

Lola-Aston Martin B09/60

As well as the Mansell brothers, Alain Prost’s son Nicolas is driving one of the Rebellion Racing Lolas.

Prost shares his car with Marco Andretti, grandson of 1978 F1 champion Mario, who competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours several times but never managed to win it.

And Vanina Ickx, daughter of six times Le Mans winner and 1970 F1 championship runner-up Jacky Ickx, drives the LMP1 Lola-Aston entered by Signature Plus.

Five former F1 drivers who competed in last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours are not present this year. They are Jos Verstappen, Christian Klien, Tiago Monteiro, Narain Karthikeyan and Marco Apicella.

Are you watching this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours? How do you think the F1 drivers will fare in this year’s race? Have your say in the comments.

Le Mans 24 Hours

• F1 drivers who won at Le Mans
• How quick would F1 lap at Le Mans?
• Wurz, Brabham and Gene win 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours for Peugeot

The famous Monte-Carlo street circuit has held the Monaco Grand Prix since 1929, and was on the first world championship calendar in 1950.

Since those early days the track has evolved, sprouting new corners, shifting its pits between three different locations and being completely overhauled to improve safety.

The onboard videos from the 1970s up to the present day show how the challenge of Monaco has changed.

1976 – Patrick Depailler, Tyrrell-Cosworth

Patrick Depailler in the unorthodox six-wheeled Tyrrell of 1976. The Monte-Carlo circuit had been re-configured three years early diverting the track around the swimming pool, and thereafter sweeping into the very tight Rascasse corner around Rosie’s bar.

Depailler qualified fourth and finished third, his team mate Jody Scheckter second behind Niki Lauda’s Ferrari.

1981 – Alain Prost, Renault

Alain Prost threads his turbo-charged Renault through the winding streets of Monaco. The abrupt power delivery of the turbos amplified the challenge of racing between the walls.

After qualifying ninth Prost retired with engine failure in 1981. The following year he was leading with only a couple of laps to go when he crashed at the harbour front as rain began to fall.

1985 – Ayrton Senna, Lotus-Renault

The 1985 race saw the final race of the old, fast harbour front chicane – watch how Senna threads his Lotus Renault turbo through it.

Senna scored his third career pole position at Monte-Carlo in 1985. Engine failure ended his race that year but he would go on to win the race a record six times.

1998 – Giancarlo Fisichella, Benetton-Playlife

In this video we can see the new harbour chicane and also the changes to the swimming complex that were made in 1997, moving the barriers back.

Giancarlo Fisichella has often shone at Monaco although he has never won the race. He qualified third and finished second fior Benetton in 1998.

2007 – Christijan Albers, Spyker

In 2003 more of the barriers were moved back and the entry to Rascasse was eased. In 2006 Michael Schumacher infamously stopped his car at the exit of Rascasse, feigning error, in an attempt to prevent the Fernando Alonso from taking pole position off him.

Christijan Albers started last in the 2007 race and was dropped by the Spyker team four races later.

You can read more about the changes to the Monaco Grand Prix circuit over the years in these articles:

• F1 circuits history part 1: 1950
• F1 circuits history part 7: 1971-74
• F1 circuits history part 13: 1995-98
• F1 circuits history part 15: 2003-07

Plus a fatality at Interlagos, new plans for a night race in Australia, more tests for Michael Schumacher, the battle for the last few 2008 F1 drives and more.

50 car books and DVDs to be won – OK it’s a shameless plug for my own column on Auto Trader but we are giving away Autocourses, F1 2007 DVDs, Hamilton books and more. What are you waiting for?

Lighting system submitted to FIA – Mark Webber evaluates a new lighting system for the Australian Grand Prix organisers. Pitpass has more on the F1 night races.

Ferrari to test at Menorca this week – Straight-line test for Ferrari in Spain.

We Didn’t Push for Large Penalty, Says Whitmarsh – McLaren chief operating officer Martin Whitmarsh denies the team wanted a harsh penalty for Renault. More thoughts on the Renault decision from GrandPrix.com.

Rafael Sperafico loses his life – Stock Car racer killed at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, home of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Schumacher turns taxi driver in flight dash – Michael Schumacher races his family to the airport.

Sutil’s 2008 seat still in doubt – He impressed many in 2007, but will Adrian Sutil be dropped by Force India? More on driver decisions at Force India F1 on GrandPrix.com.

Conway gunning for GP2 title – then F1 future – 2006 British F3 champion and Honda test driver Mike Conway is still set on reaching F1 despite a disappointing GP2 campaign this year.

Grosjean joins GP2 – Meanwhile new Renault F1 test driver and 2007 F3 Euroseries champion Romain Grosjean has joined GP2 with the ART team, who ran 2005 and 2006 champions Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton respectively.

Zuber hopes for Honda test spot – Andreas Zuber (Timo Glock’s iSport team mate this year) is another GP2 driver looking for a way into F1.

Super Aguri fate in Honda hands – More thoughts on what the future holds for Super Aguri.

Michael Schumacher to test in 2008 – We’ve not seen the last of him at Ferrari.

Max Mosley interview – This is a few weeks old but given the many recent developments concerning the FIA it’s worth having a look at this BBC interview with Max Mosley conducted on the Hard Talk programme in October.

Press split over term of new Alonso deal - Fernando Alonso has returned to Renault – but for how long? And how much money?

‘Kovalainen dropped because he was too fast’ – And did Renault get rid of Heikki Kovalainen because he was a threat to Alonso?

Albers to test DTM with Audi teams this week – Former Spyker and Minardi driver to return to the German Touring Car Championship?

Strategies, philosophies and the use of power – Can the FIA really stop teams from spending money on aerodynamic developments?

Ralf not interested in Force India F1 drive – Barring a surprise announcement from McLaren it seems the end is near for Ralf Schumacher’s F1 career.

Brundle makes a point – It’s Martin Brundle vs Max Mosley.

More F1 news

• F1 in the news archive

Plus speculation about Michael Schumacher’s rumoured return, the future of Prodrive’s entry into F1, Lewis Hamilton explains his aims in Formula 1 and Murray Walker makes a return to commentating.

Read on for a round up of 27 F1 news stories from this week.

Prodrive looking ahead – David Richards’ team will not be in Formula 1 in 2008, but could they return later?

Mosley can’t guarantee Prodrive entry in 2009 – Perhaps not…

Exclusive: Interview with Christian Klien – The young Austrian driver is looking for a way back into the sport.

BMW looks ahead and over its shoulder – New driving talent at BMW but could Volkswagen be looking at entering F1?

Hamilton targets Schumacher’s record – Lewis Hamilton wants to be an all-time great.

All very amusing… but – Did Giancarlo Fisichell’a manager Enrico Zanarini really write the rebuttal to Bernie Ecclestone that appeared on the Italian driver’s website?

Garage greats: Bob Dance – Interview with a famous F1 mechanic.

V8s looking at Singapore GP event – The Australian V8 Touring Car championship, which will be back at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix, is looking at supporting the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix too.

December decisions – More thoughts on the future of Fernando Alonso.

Massa gets married in Brazil – Felipe Massa ties the knot.

Mark Webber – Not awkward, just Australian – Interview with Red Bull’s Mark Webber.

Formula One’s new star stays grounded amid rise to the top – Interview with Lewis Hamilton as he eyes victory in the 2007 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

Fan power getting out of hand – I wrote an earlier article about the 120,000 Fernando Alonso fans who believe their countryman was cheated by McLaren this year. They’re still all wrong, only now there’s more of them.

Albers: There’s more than Formula 1 – Ex-Spyker driver Christijan Albers faces life outside F1.

Ralf unhappy? – Ex-Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher might be jealous that his former Jordan team mate Giancarlo Fisichella is getting more time in the Force India car in testing this week.

Priaulx rues Hamilton saturation – Three-times World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx (four times a champion in the same discipline) laments how little attention motorsport outside F1 gets.

Exclusive interview – Honda’s Ross Brawn – Former Ferrari man on the future of the Japanese team.

Murray to return to commentary box – F1 commentating legend Murray Walker to voice the Race of Champions commentary.

2008 in our sights already – the test team – The Renault staff working on development of the R28.

Schumacher: What if? – How might a return to F1 for Michael Schumacher work.

Exclusive interview: Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais – F1′s new French driver talks about the transition from Champ Car.

Raikkonen would welcome Alonso as team mate – But would both drivers really be happy with equal number one status at Ferrari?

Launch season – Kimi Raikkonen also let slip when the new 2008 Ferrari would be launched – January 7th. Keep up to date with F1 events using the F1 Fanatic calendar for Google.

Keynote statement by the FIA President – Watch video of Max Mosley’s speech at the Motor Sport Business Forum.

Lewis Hamilton joins greats in Hackney – F1 star Hamilton visits the Springfield Club, patronised by Sir Jackie Stewart.

Massa says more overtaking unlikely – Ferrari’s Felipe Massa not convinced by banning of traction control.

Photo: Ferrari Media

• Alonso is not the victim of a McLaren conspiracy
• The FIA owe Prodrive an apology
• Lewis Hamilton matches Jenson Button on Top Gear
• Keep up to date with F1 events using the F1 Fanatic calendar for Google

These verdicts are entirely my own opinions, so feel free to state a case for any driver you think is ranked too low, and argue against anyone you think appears too high.

The rest of the drivers will be ranked on Thursday and Friday, so be sure to come back.

26. Christijan Albers

In a year that saw several experienced drivers overshadowed by junior team mates Albers was the only one to be kicked out halfway through the season.

Adrian Sutil out-qualified him 7-2 during their time together, and when Albers headed out of the Magny-Cours pit lane with the refuelling hose still attached, that was the final straw.

25. Sakon Yamamoto

Hardly worth replacing Albers for. Frequently off the road, but not hopelessly slow.

24. Kazuki Nakajima

It’s hard to judge on a single outing, and although Nakajima committed the horrible blunder of parking on his pit crew during one pit stop, he did make a couple of tidy passes.

It is perhaps a little concerning that he’s been judged worthy of a full-time seat next year given some of his ill-judged passing attempts in GP2 this year, but he was the top rookie in that category this year.

23. Markus Winkelhock

The one-race wunderkind who put a Spyker in the lead for six laps – more than BMW achieved all year! He was aided by fortune and a gutsy pit wall decision by Mike Gascoyne, but Winkelhock is to be applauded for not binning it or taking off one of the leaders.

He deserves better than to languish in the DTM.

22. Scott Speed

It didn’t look good for Speed from the length of the time the team took to confirm him as their driver for this year. Plainly neither party saw eye to eye and things came to a head at the Nürburgring, where he was dismissed following a furious row with Franz Tost.

Up until that point Speed had three finishes (including an excellent ninth at Monaco), four crashes (at least one of which was not his fault) and three car failures. In fairness he was probably letting the team down about as badly as they were letting him down.

21. Ralf Schumacher

One of the few occasions I actually noticed Ralf Schumacher was at Monte Carlo, where he came round at the end of lap in last place, having qualified 20th.

Having achieved parity with Jarno Trulli in qualifying last year, Trulli exerted a crushing advantage in 2007 – Ralf’s average starting position of 12.35 is over three places more than his team mate’s.

There were occasional highs including three top-six qualifying performances, and his battling drive at Shanghai looked good until he tripped over Vitantonio Liuzzi. But the year as a whole was not a performance worthy of a driver of his experience, and his split with Toyota was announced well before the end of the racing season.

20. Rubens Barrichello

Having modestly out-performed Jenson Button in the early part of the season, when the hopeless RA107 was at its worst, Barrichello was seen off by Button in the latter part of the year.

He ended the year on zero points for the first time in his F1 career. Perhaps it was out of guilt over the poor car it gave him in 2007 that Honda re-signed him for 2008.

19. Takuma Sato

At Super Aguri, too, one driver scored all the points. That was perhaps to be expected of Sato, for whom 2007 was his fifth season, rather than Anthony Davidson, who had three starts to his name before the year began.

Sato’s opportunistic pass on a wounded Fernando Alonso at Montreal was a moment of sheer elation for the team. But at Indianapolis one week later we saw the bad Sato of old – picking up a penalty before spinning off.

18. Adrian Sutil

Not a lot was expected from Sutil before his F1 debut. He’d been trounced by Lewis Hamilton in F3 in 2005, then won the Japanese series (against questionable opposition) the following year, before vaulting up into F1.

But he did a very good job and was clearly too much trouble for Christijan Albers. Sutil was fastest in the wet practice session at Monte-Carlo on Saturday, when simply getting away with not crashing the car would have been impressive enough.

He raced well when the opportunity arose (for example, at Spa) and grabbed a vital point for the team in more rain at Fuji. It was not all plain sailing – there were some unnecessary crashes – but otherwise this was a good showing by the rookie.

17. Alexander Wurz

A disappointing end to a Grand Prix career in which Wurz might charitably have been said to be just too good at testing to be wasted on races.

Plainly put, Nico Rosberg annihilated Wurz this year, but the Austrian certainly seized his moments. He escaped the Canadian carnage to seize an excellent third – the only podium for Williams this year – and likewise was fourth at the Nürburgring.

But his motivation had gone, and he quit before the season finale.

16. Anthony Davidson

While Sato won the glory at Montreal by finishing sixth, Davidson was left to rue what might have been. But for the hapless animal he flattened on lap 38, he might have finished on the podium.

Te went into the rest of the season charged with renewed confidence, out-qualifying Sato 9-2 over the remaining races.

The highlight was a brilliant 11th on the grid at Istanbul, on a day when it looked like no man could have driven the Super Aguri any faster. There were no points, however, for the midfield had overtaken Super Aguri by around the halfway point of the season.

15. Vitantonio Liuzzi

It would be a shame to see Vitantonio Liuzzi left without a seat for 2008, because he looked at least as good as the much-lauded Sebastian Vettel during their brief time as team mates at Red Bull.

Given the hard time Vettel got over his collision with Mark Webber at Fuji perhaps someone should have rapped David Coulthard’s knuckles for the contact with Liuzzi at Monaco that led to the Italian’s retirement. A points finish was in the offing that day.

He would have been eighth at Fuji had he not failed to see a yellow flag in near-blinding rain. He eventually scored at Shanghai, but that was rather overshadowed by…

14. Sebastian Vettel

Vettel was happily leading the World Series by Renault when he was plucked by BMW to stand in for Robert Kubica following the Pole’s Montreal smash. Vettel did a decent job at short notice, fluffing the start but nevertheless scoring a point (on a track he hadn’t seen), and becoming the youngest driver ever to do so in the process.

He dropped the WSR for good when Toro Rosso came looking for a replacement for Speed. But those who expected him to blow Liuzzi into the weeds were mistaken.

Then came the horror show collision with Webber at Fuji while the pair were running second and third. Red Bull did an excellent job of getting him out of the penalty for that one, considering he’d admitted he was looking at Hamilton instead of Webber when the crash happened. Happily, redemption came swiftly at Shanghai with a quite brilliant drive to fourth.

13. Giancarlo Fisichella

Fisichella seems an excellent driver of poor cars and a poor driver of excellent cars. And so as Renault got to grips with the troublesome R27 over the course of the year, so the improving and maturing Heikki Kovalainen gained the upper hand.

Fisichella had his days though, not least at Monaco where he was an excellent fourth.

12. Jarno Trulli

Trulli was back on 2005 form in comparison to Ralf Schumacher, easily out-qualifying him and regularly getting into the final phase of qualifying.

But these instances were too rarely turned into points. Nine top-eight starts and four points scores tells you all you need to know about Trulli’s race pace.

11. David Coulthard

David Coulthard quietly racked up more points than his team mate, but Webber did suffer some awful luck.

Coulthard was a fine fifth at Barcelona despite gearbox problems. It later emerged that his rear wing was flexing more than it should, but consider it a karmic realignment for the points he lost when his fabulous race at Bahrain was thwarted by car failure.

Coulthard popped up in the points whenever conditions were tricky – Nürburgring, Fuji and Shanghai – and is clearly not ready to hang up his crash helmet just yet.

Don’t miss the next two parts of the 2007 driver rankings. Subscribe to F1 Fanatic for free by e-mail or RSS.

Previous driver rankings

• 2005 drivers half-term report (1/2)
• 2005 drivers half-term report (2/2)
• 2005 driver rankings (1/2)
• 2005 driver rankings (2/2)
• 2006 drivers half-term report (1/2)
• 2006 drivers half-term report (2/2)
• F1 2006 review: Drivers end-of-season rankings (1/2)
• F1 2006 review: Drivers end-of-season rankings (2/2)
• 2007 drivers half-term report (1/2)
• 2007 drivers half-term report (2/2)

The rules are simple: you have to describe every F1 driver using just one word for each.

Mine are below – now you have a go…

Fernando Alonso – Baffling
Lewis Hamilton – Outrageous
Giancarlo Fisichella – Anonymous
Heikki Kovalainen – Improving
Felipe Massa – Guileless
Kimi Raikkonen – Vindicated
Jenson Button – Dogged
Rubens Barrichello – Indifferent
Nick Heidfeld – Consistent
Robert Kubica – Fortunate
Ralf Schumacher – Joyless
Jarno Trulli – Unconvincing
David Coulthard – Dependable
Mark Webber – Cursed
Nico Rosberg – Blossoming
Alexander Wurz – Intelligent
Kazuki Nakajima – Erratic
Vitantonio Liuzzi – Unfavoured
Scott Speed – Unremarkable
Sebastian Vettel – Promising
Adrian Sutil – Potential
Christijan Albers – Rejected
Markus Winkelhock – Inexperienced
Sakon Yamamoto – Placeholder
Takuma Sato – Inconsistent
Anthony Davidson – Luckless

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Around twelve months later we learned the struggling Dutch car maker was selling up to Indian billionaire business tycoon Vijay Mallya, and next year the cars will be called Force India F1 Team.

But although from the outside it may look as though the team were merely treading water this year, they actually turned in some respectable performances with only meagre resources.

Spyker performed the role of plucky underdogs with great aplomb in 2007. Lacking the pace to get among the midfield pace and challenge regularly for points, they nonetheless raced with great spirits.

They took risks: on a rookie driver who’d impressed in Formula Three Japan after a mauling at the hands of Lewis Hamilton in 2005, who distinguished himself on several occasions; on a comprehensive car upgrade halfway through the season; and on an inspired strategic gamble at the Nürburgring.

Perhaps it was one of those occasions when the back row of the grid was exactly where you wanted to start the race. Mike Gascoyne certainly had longer to think about the incoming rainstorm than the Ferrari and McLaren strategists did.

It was his call to put Markus Winkelhock onto wet tyres and, as the rain poured down and everyone scuttled into the pits, the German found himself leading at home on his Grand Prix debut – by half a minute!

No one expected it to last but it was particularly disappointing to see Winkelhock’s entire lead destroyed by the red flag period. But his six laps in the lead was one of the highlights for the team – they spent more laps in first place this year than BMW!

Winkelhock’s appearance was a one-off as the team dropped Christijan Albers after nine races. Chief among the reasons for Albers’ departure were his poor performances relative to rookie Sutil, and leaving his pit box at Magny-Cours with the refuelling rig still attached.

His seat was filled for the remainder of the year by Sakon Yamamoto, and if the Japanese driver didn’t completely disgrace himself the fact that the team did not opt for one of their four test drivers was a strong indication of how tight their budget was.

The departure of Albers left Sutil cast in the role of team leader which, given his superior pace in much of the first half of the season, had been his de facto role anyway.

The young German showed flashes of promise mixed with occasional over-exuberance. He was fastest in Saturday morning practice at Monte-Carlo, 2.3s quicker than Albers, which hinted that he might be something of a wet-weather specialist.

He delivered on that promise at Fuji by giving the team their only point of the year, thanks in part to the fact that Vitantontio Liuzzi passed him under a yellow flags and was penalised after the race.

The arrival of the revised F8-VII B closed the gap between Spyker and the midfield. At Spa-Francorchamps both their drivers used an aggressive strategy, starting the race on the softer tyres.

Sutil gained four places on the first lap, then passed Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli to run 12th. He made a thorough pest of himself for David Coulthard before reality bit and he made his early pit stop. He ended the race a lapped 14th but having beaten both Super Aguris.

Sutil made a habit of these victories over better-equipped opposition. At the Hungaroring he beat Rubens Barrichello’s Honda.

Gascoyne’s stewardship brought more to the team than strategic nous. The careless errors of 2006 (such as their double disqualification at Hockenheim) were weeded out and not repeated.

This is a team with great potential and with the right management, stability and investment it can surely become regular points-scorers once more. Mallya seems attuned to the team’s needs – they haven’t had an experienced driver since Giancarlo Fisichella left when the team was still called Jordan, and already Mallya is looking at bringing his friend Ralf Schumacher to the team.

Spyker have discovered how to make the most of meagre resources. Delivering more with a larger budget is their challenge for 2008.

Photos: Peter J Fox / Crash Media Group / Spyker

Related links

• Spyker beats Honda thanks to Sutil
• Kovalainen, Rosberg and Sutil in running for ‘08 McLaren drive
• F1’s new team for 2008: Force India
• Pictures: First glimpse of Force India

Ferrari were crowned constructors’ champions at the Belgian Grand Prix after McLaren’s exclusion from the championship.

As McLaren will not have the world champion driving for them next year they will likely end up using car numbers 22 and 23.

Drivers’ championship

1. Kimi Raikkonen 110
2. Lewis Hamilton 109*
3. Fernando Alonso 109
4. Felipe Massa 94
5. Nick Heidfeld 61
6. Robert Kubica 39
7. Heikki Kovalainen 30
8. Giancarlo Fisichella 21
9. Nico Rosberg 20
10. David Coulthard 14
11. Alexander Wurz 13
12. Mark Webber 10
13. Jarno Trulli 8
14. Sebastian Vettel 6**
15. Jenson Button 6
16. Ralf Schumacher 5
17. Takuma Sato 4
18. Vitantonio Liuzzi 3
19. Adrian Sutil 1

Did not score: Christijan Albers, Rubens Barrichello, Anthony Davidson, Kazuki Nakajima, Scott Speed, Sakon Yamamoto, Markus Winkelhock

*More second places than Fernando Alonso
**More fourth places than Jenson Button

Constructors’ championship

1. Ferrari 204
2. BMW 101
3. Renault 51
4. Williams-Toyota 33
5. Red Bull-Renault 24
6. Toyota 13
7. Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8
8. Honda 6
9. Super Aguri-Honda 4
10. Spyker-Ferrari 1

McLaren-Mercedes were excluded from the constructors’ championship. They would have been champions with 218 points. No other team failed to score.

Related links

• Kimi Raikkonen finally wins the F1 title
• Brazilian GP 2007 review: Raikkonen champion by a point

Tags: f1 / formula one / formula 1 / grand prix / motor sport

The four championship contenders will line up in the top four positions with both McLarens leading the way into tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix.

A wet session saw a couple of surprise appearances in the top ten – namely Jenson Button, seventh, and Sebastian Vettel, ninth.

Before qualifying there was widespread doubt over whether the session would even begin, as low-hanging cloud made visibility poor. Similar conditions and forced the abandonment of the first practice session after only three drivers had done laps.

But to some surprise the session was given the go-ahead and the drivers tip-toed en masse onto a cold and wet track that at least didn’t feature too much standing water.

Part one

To begin with several drivers lapped on full wet tyres. But those on intermediate tyres generally found the track more to their liking – except Sebastian Vettel who spun in front of Lewis Hamilton.

The lap times quickly began to tumble with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, both on intermediates, sat at the top of the times.

The battle to get into the top 16 came down to which driver could be the last to set a time on a drying track. On top of which, shortly after the chequered flag Ralf Schumacher spun into Sakon Yamamoto’s Spyker, forcing drivers to slow down.

Two late escapees from the bottom six were Lewis Hamilton and Nick Heidfeld, vaulting clear with only seconds to spare.

But after the drama of qualifying on a wet track there were no major surprises in the first six to be eliminated which included both home drivers.

Nico Rosbeg had almost a second’s advantage over team mate Alexander Wurz, who was knocked out. Ralf Schumacher ended the session 14th, but without a car, and so seven cars failed to progress to the second part of qualifying.

Bottom six drivers’ times for part one

17. Rubens Barrichello 1’27.323
18. Alexander Wurz 1’27.454
19. Anthony Davidson 1’27.564
20. Adrian Sutil 1’28.628
21. Takuma Sato 1’28.792
22. Sakon Yamamoto 1’29.668

Part two

Once again the session saw most drivers staying out on the track for lap after lap, keeping the heat in their tyres, drying out the track and steadily improving their times.

To begin with the McLarens sat on top of the charts, Alonso and Hamilton swapping fastest times. They were followed by both of the Ferraris and then Jenson Button, the Honda driver revelling in the wet conditions as usual.

With five minutes left the Renaults, Toro Rossos and Jarno Trulli were in the bottom six, with Schumacher’s Toyota already resigned to elimination.

Sebastian Vettel set a late quick lap – one second faster than team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi – to move up to tenth. That in turn knocked fellow Red Bull driver David Coulthard out of the top ten, and put a Toro Rosso in the final ten for the first time this year.

But none of the other drivers succeeded in escaping the bottom six, leaving only one Japanese car in qualifying – Button’s.

Bottom six drivers’ times for part two

11. Giancarlo Fisichella 1’26.033
12. Heikki Kovalainen 1’26.232
13. David Coulthard 1’26.247
14. Jarno Trulli 1’26.253
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi 1’26.948
16. Ralf Schumacher no time

Part three

Hamilton sat at the front of the queue to begin the final part of qualifying was nothing new – but Vettel sat behind him was more of a surprise!

Also out in the final part of qualifying were Alonso, the Ferraris and BMWs, Rosberg, Button and Mark Webber.

The drivers got stuck into their ‘fuel credit’ laps with little drama, except for Raikkonen who had a brief moment off the track on one of Fuji’s enormous tarmac run-offs.

Hamkilton was one of the first drivers to duck into the pits for fresh tyres, but his first lap was only good enough for third behind Alonso and Raikkonen. He did a second lap and then returned to the pits for more tyres.

The Ferrari drivers were also having problems – Massa was briefly stuck behind Heidfeld and Raikkonen has a brief off on his first lap out of the pits.

On the final set of times, however, everyone found a little more time. Alonso’s 1’25.438 looked good enough for pole, and Raikkonen slotted in behind him less than eight hundredths of a second behind.

But Hamilton, after another stop in the pits, had just one lap left and he nailed it. There was a hair-raising moment as he blasted towards the finishing line as he shot past Vettel’s car, before edging Alonso off pole position by seven hundredths of a second.

There was the usual gap between the Ferraris and BMWs with Nick Heidfeld in his traditional ‘best of the rest’ place. Rosberg’s sixth will become 16th after is engine penalty, but he’ll still start ahead of team mate Wurz.

Button will move up to sixth after edging out Webber by one thousandth of a second. Vettel finished three-tenths ahead of Kubica.

Top ten drivers’ times for part three

1. Lewis Hamilton 1’25.368
2. Fernando Alonso 1’25.438
3. Kimi Raikkonen 1’25.516
4. Felipe Massa 1’25.765
5. Nick Heidfeld 1’26.505
6. Nico Rosberg 1’26.728
7. Jenson Button 1’26.913
8. Mark Webber 1’26.914
9. Sebastian Vettel 1’26.973
10. Robert Kubica 1’27.225

Photos: Ferrari Media | GEPA / Bildagentur Kraeling | Daimler Chrysler

Related links

• Grand Prix qualifying session reports

Tags: f1 / formula one / formula 1 / grand prix / motor sport

Also check out an excerpt from David Coulthard’s new autobiography in which he admitted to suffering from an eating disorder, thoughts from Honda’s under-fire aerodynamicist Shuhei Nakamoto, and an interview with 1979 F1 champion Jody Scheckter.

High speed, high tech: Inside an F1 factory – A very detailed look behind the scenes at Spyker.

Spyker B-spec delayed until Monza – But the team’s new car is on hold after failing a crash test.

Former F1 star taking pole position on the “biggest smallholding in the world” – An F1 champion in the Farmer’s Guardian? It can only be Jody Scheckter.

Renault chief to become QPR owner, report says – Flavio Briatore set to ‘do an Abramovich’ at Queens’ Park Rangers.

Hamilton could be in for bumpy ride after credibility crashes – Did I miss something? When did Hamilton’s credibility crash?

David Coulthard: I’ve stared death in the face but I’m not fazed – Excerpt from the Scottish driver’s autobiography.

New Hamiltons on course at kart track – As a new British star hits F1 a generation of dads are dragging their kids to the kart tracks. Circle of life…

Nakamoto insists better times ahead – Shuhei Nakamoto is widely blamed for the poor performance of Honda’s car this year – but he is positive about the future.

F1: Inside Toyota’s Formula 1 Aerodynamics – Toyota show off their computation fluid dynamics work.

Interview with Super Aguri’s Kevin Lee – The chief operations officer explains his role.

Motorsport on the ropes? – Has racing become a dull, over-regulated irrelevance?

Grosjean in line for Renault test – Romain Grosjean to get his first taste of F1 machinery (see Meet the rookies: Romain Grosjean).

How to become F1 champion – Thoughts of 1992 champion Nigel Mansell.

Windsor’s wisdom – Whether you like him or not, he’s always got an interesting point of view. Peter Windsor on why Lewis Hamilton is better than Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.

2010 Season Preview – F1 reject Scott Speed heading to NASCAR.

Ecclestone gives Delhi 45-day deadline – Race against time for Indian Grand Prix hopefuls.

Photos: Peter J Fox / Crash Media Group | F3 Euroseries Media Service

Related links

• Meet the rookies: Romain Grosjean
• F1 in the news archive

Tags: f1 / formula one / formula 1 / grand prix / motor sport