The action, as is so often the case, was off the track. And what action there was.

It was twofold: We’ll start with the Hamilton factor. He was hyped by McLaren and Vodafone before the season with an ultra slick documentary explaining how Hamilton rose to F1, and the hype went off the scale when he claimed a podium in his first race and then another and another until Montreal in June when he won his first race, and duly won again at Indianapolis 7 days later. A gigastar was born and Bernie Ecclestone started to relax – ‘Michael who’ he started to ask? Naturally, the UK press went off the richter scale as well.

Ferrari started the season on pole and with a win, but unreliability started to rear it’s ugly head and they copped a down trowel at the next race where Alonso posted his first 10. By Bahrain, the rot was setting in for Fernando though. He came in to 2007 as a 2 time World Champ and as the man who killed the sports’ prior king – twice. That a hyped up twerp in the car next to him was rapid was okay. That the team seemed to favour him was not. Alonso struggled on the Bridgestones in Bahrain, as did fellow ex-Michelin man Raikkonen. At Alonso’s home race in Spain, the pressure showed when Fernando tried to take the lead at the first corner and instead dropped to 4th. Hamilton finished ahead and took the lead in the championship (one he held till the moment Kimi crossed the line in Brazil)

Alonso’s relationship with McLaren was okay until Hamilton bitched about not being allowed to race Alonso at Monaco. The British press grabbed the story and ran with it, Alonso was miffed that a superb victory in the principality went largely unrecognised and that the FIA investigated McLarens conduct. From there, we’ll fast forward to Hungary because in between times the spy scandal broke.

Ferrari had a bad apple. Chief Mechanic Nigel Stepney lost out in a technical reshuffle/power struggle at the end of 2006. So he sent friend and McLaren Chief Designer Mike Coughlan a 750 page dossier of drawings and data about Ferrari’s 2007 car. Bear in mind that in F1, the only common parts between the cars are the tyres. Communication between Stepney and Coughlan continued – some 330 texts, plus emails and phone calls were traced by Italian Police. Stepney tipped off Coughlan about Ferrari’s flexi floor which was subsequently banned after the first race. The story broke in the media in June. McLaren were summonsed to the FIA but let off as it appeared minor and no one could prove they gained any advantage.

In Hungary, Lewis Hamilton pushed too far and disobeyed an instruction relating to the agreed qualifying procedure for the team. In retaliation, Alonso took the chance to baulk in the pits meaning that Hamilton ran out of time to start his last qualifying lap. Civil war erupted and things went berserk. Alonso was given a grid penalty and the next morning he supposedly gave team principal Ron Dennis an ultimatum: ‘slow down Hamilton or I’m taking some emails that I have to the FIA’. (Mike Coughlan emailed tyre pressure and weight distribution data to McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa who on forwarded it to Alonso). Alonso allegedly withdrew the ultimatum a short while later, but in that time Ron Dennis had rung FIA President Max Mosley informing him of the development. A hearing was set, $100m fine issued, all constructors points docked, and a big story exploded.

Robert Kubica all but died in Montreal and BMW replacement Sebastian Vettel became the youngest ever points scorer at Indy, Scott Speed was promptly dumped by Toro Rosso for Vettel, Albers sponsors didn’t pay, Alex Wurz retired, Spyker were sold to an Indian billionaire, and the power struggle inside Ferrari continues. Bouquets: Rosberg, Davidson, Kovalainen, Vettel and Sutil. Brickbats: R Schumacher, Fisichella, Barrichello, Trulli.

The championship fight went to the last race because McLaren threw away the title in Shanghai. Needing just a reasonable points finish to secure the title, Hamilton and McLaren were still focussed on winning the race. Afterwards, Ron Dennis said “we were racing Alonso” which says all that needs to be said about how the teams relationship with Alonso stood by this stage.

At the last race, McLaren again broke the rules (relating to tyres on Hamiltons car) and were fined US$25K, and Hamilton again tried a risky move when discretion would have been smarter. Raikkonen won the race and the title by one point. And there was something about that which seemed quite just and appropriate - a worthy and fitting champion. But: a protest was lodged (by McLaren) against a stewards decision to ignore rule violations by BMW and Williams that, if upheld, will see Hamilton become champion. Dennis reckons they owe it to McLarens fans to pursue it. Alonso reckons it would be shameful to win the title that way and he’s right - McLaren have no fans left.

The only thing bigger than the Hamilton story of 2007 was McLarens legal bill. The 2007 season showcased the best and worst of what continues to be worlds most interesting sport.