Season 2006 Review

It was also dramatic, a classic season of two halves. Fernando Alonso skipped away in the first part of the year in irrepressible fashion. But then came the Ferrari resurgence, and Michael Schumacher's chase, which featured several awesome races, most notably Hungary, China and Brazil. And to top it off came the reality of Schumi's impending retirement; here was the prospect of this colossus of the sport, striding its arena for the last time, and walking away with its greatest prize for the eighth time. It was not to be.

But to label it a season of two halves, though it may have appeared that way, would be to undersell the achievements and the year-long efforts of both these drivers and their teams. Alonso's incredible consistency on the racetrack made him a worthy successor to Schumacher as the best, most relentless driver in the world; in terms of regular error-free performance, the Spaniard may have even surpassed the German legend. After all, he beat Michael in a straight fight to become the youngest-ever double champion.

And this was a Schumacher who showed all throughout the year, and not just in the second half of it, that he still had it all. By that I mean that he still had the hunger, he still had the speed, he still had the greatest skill overall, but he still had that occasional mistake, and he still had the controversy. All season long, from the opening salvos in Bahrain to the last hurrah in Brazil, there was very little to choose between the reliability and performance of the Renault/Michelin and the Ferrari/Bridgestone packages.

Having said that, the performance levels of Renault and Ferrari were also undoubtedly magnified by the fact that so many other drivers and their teams had such middling seasons that fell below their pre-season expectations. McLaren went from having the fastest car of 2005 to their first winless year since 1996, and had the disruption of Juan-Pablo Montoya leaving mid-season. Honda's pre-season speed was never replicated despite Jenson Button's maiden win and a vast overall improvement on last year.

Red Bull, surprise packet regular points scorers in 2005, were just about looking towards 2007 before the 2006 season even began. Toyota showed that whenever they take two steps forward, they take one big step back. And hardly any story throughout 2006 could have been more sobering than the unmitigated implosion by Williams, race after race like a recurring nightmare. It all made the job of ranking for this review the 11 teams and the 27 drivers who raced, a very difficult one indeed.

The drama of the season was also aided by what seemed to be rather conspicuous meddling by officialdom in the second half of the year. There was the mass dampers affair that hit Renault at the most inconvenient time, Alonso's qualifying penalty in Hungary, not to mention the ludicrous penalty meted out to the Spaniard after qualifying at Monza. Even if it was all purely and innocently coincidental, it did nothing to quieten the growing number of cynics out there.

Politically it was a comparatively quiet year. The new qualifying system worked a treat. V8 engines meant slower straight-line speeds, but aero advances and the tyre war meant corner speeds increased and lap times changed little. The return of tyre changes was not universally popular but it did even things up between Bridgestone and Michelin. The Grand Prix Manufacturers' Association died a slow death, and the rules for 2008 and the debate over engine freezing were often the topics of the day. Hear the snoring?

Compared to last year, surprises were also few and far between. Prodrive won the right to be the 12th team in 2008, the defection of Alonso to McLaren for 2007 was old news, and Michelin's withdrawal at the end of the year was not unexpected. There were no new tracks this year, no major team buy-outs apart from Spyker taking over from Midland, and there was no rookie who managed to impress with any regularity. Only Montoya's move to NASCAR proved a shock, but to many that was just surreally absurd.

So overall, a very good year, one which many will look back on fondly, but in truth not outstanding. Renault, Ferrari, Alonso and Schumacher were undeniably brilliant, but their performance was highlighted by the ordinariness of their rivals - so much so that we have broken from tradition to base our 'Reject of the Year' podium positions on not just the driver rankings - and by the lack of intrigue elsewhere in the paddock. The best separated from the rest and fighting it out - some will say that that's how it ought to be.

Here are our team reviews for the season, ranked here according to a rating out of 10 awarded by us. We have taken into consideration their equipment, past form, luck (or lack thereof) and, just as importantly, our initial expectations for 2006.

11. Williams Cosworth

If the season had started in January and had opened at Monza, Williams might have had a chance. The FW28 chassis looked neat, but most impressive early on was the powerful Cosworth engine, created on a near-shoestring budget. Williams' showing in Bahrain, when they played it safe yet still finished 6th and 7th with the fastest lap of the race for rookie Nico Rosberg, followed by filling the second row of the grid in Malaysia, suggested that they could make hay while the sun shone and surprise their rivals in the paddock. The double-retirement at Sepang in the early laps, though, signalled the beginning of a disaster. It went endlessly downhill from there, with atrocious reliability. Hydraulics, engines, gearboxes, exhausts, throttles, tyres, halfshafts and electrics all failed during races, while five collisions and other driving errors added to the DNF litany. The trouble was, different problems were appearing each race, and often they struck whilst the cars were in very competitive positions, for example in Australia, Monaco and Germany.

Their 10-race drought without a point was their worst ever, as was 8th place overall with only 11 points. Under the pre-2003 points system, they would have only scored 2 points! By year's end, Alex Wurz's Friday testing efforts made little impact, relations with Mark Webber had soured, and the cars were no longer competitive as a lack of aero grip could not be resolved, despite backroom shuffling. Having returned to privateer status, we knew that development would be a problem, but we didn't expect things to be this bad. Prospects for 2007: Endemic reliability and aero issues remain, regardless of the arrival of Toyota engines, Patrick Head returning to a more hands-on role, and a new title sponsor, all of which are plusses. In Wurz, they also have a driver who has hardly raced in six years. We'd love to see them rebound, but more struggle is most likely. Rating: 3.5/10

10. Red Bull Ferrari

You'd think that Ferrari engines would be to die for, but in the pre-season Red Bull were disappointed when the Maranello motors simply wouldn't gel with the RB02 chassis, in particular causing major cooling problems. A quick fix was required, but that distraction put them behind the eight-ball. Seven retirements in the first five rounds, through a combination of collisions and mechanical failures, marked such a patchy start that Christian Horner and star recruit Adrian Newey were quickly looking to 2007 already. It's debatable how much Newey could have done with this year's car, being one he didn't design. But the point is that, although the team's season steadied, with the highlight being Monaco where Christian Klien should have, and David Coulthard did record the their first podium, from about that point on they simply meandered until the end of the year, with hardly any investment in developing the car. In the tail-end of the season, they were battling with the Toro Rossos, and that simply should not have been.

Coulthard especially was able to sneak the occasional respectable result, but Red Bull only made it into the third segment of qualifying five times all season. Their apathy flowed through to the drivers, with neither DC, Klien, or Robert Doornbos late in the year inspired to do their best. Their anonymity at most events was startling, and that in itself was frustrating, especially after some giant-killing performances last year. As fans we love to see teams giving their all, all the time, and Red Bull simply wasn't doing that. Prospects for 2007: Putting all their eggs in the '07 basket is extremely dangerous, but with Renault engines, a Newey design, Peter Prodromou brought in from McLaren, and a determined Mark Webber, there is reason to be confident. The upturn won't be earth-shatteringly dramatic, but fairly regular podiums and points should be in reach. Rating: 4/10

9. MF1 Toyota

In F1 Racing's season preview, Renault's Pat Symonds was none-too-complimentary about the merit of MF1 in the sport: "I see nothing in them that has any passion ... [a]s a team, they do nothing to enhance Formula 1." Harsh, very harsh, but there was a modicum of truth nonetheless. In their first season racing under their own identity, they fronted up with a colour scheme that, from front-on at least, made them look like a poor man's McLaren, with a performance level to match, despite having Toyota engines. It was difficult to see where they were heading. At first they comfortably gapped Super Aguri, as they should have done, but by year's end the Japanese upstarts had caught up. Only 8 times all season did they appear in segment two of qualifying, and only at Indy did both cars make it. Reliability was also comparatively poor. Although occasionally Christijan Albers in particular could dice with the Toro Rossos and Red Bulls, MF1's season was spent going nowhere, and not getting there particularly quickly either.

They used five different Friday drivers, whose main purpose was to bring money rather than develop the car. All year speculation was rife that Alex Shnaider was going to sell, confirming that F1 had simply been an expensive frolic. The eventual sale to boutique Dutch sports car marque Spyker thus came as no surprise. There can be something very charming about backmarker teams, but that often stems from the team owner's passion for racing. Symonds was probably right to say that MF1's bosses had rather little. Prospects for 2007: Spyker want to race under their own name, but that could be blocked. Ferrari engines aren't necessarily a godsend - just ask Red Bull. Having Mike Gascoyne on board will surely lift their performance, and Spyker's ownership will probably inject a better attitude. Better results are possible - but not by much. Rating: 4.5/10

8. Toyota

Oh dear. From a results-per-dollar perspective, Toyota are the biggest money-wasters in F1. From 88 points in 2005 to just 35 this year was a massive fall. They launched the TF106 earlier than anyone else, such that by the time Bahrain came around, the car had been substantially upgraded. But a dismally slow showing there put the writing on the wall. The rebound was fairly rapid - Ralf Schumacher scored the team's only podium of the year two races later in Australia - but Mike Gascoyne was sacked anyway. His replacement by Pascal Vasselon seemed to be a political appointment. In Formula One, building momentum is an important factor, and Toyota have had more managerial and technical upheaval since they entered the sport five seasons ago than just about any other team. And therein lies the problem. The money is there, the pressure from head office in Tokyo is there, but inspiration is in short supply. It was reflected in the rather faceless years that both Ralf and Jarno Trulli had on the track.

Through a combination of incidents and mechanical problems, Trulli could chain no more than three finishes in a row, Schumacher no more than four. For the majority of the season they qualified in and around the top 10, but as a general trend when they started well they dropped back, and when they started further down they could charge into the points. They didn't seem to understand the Bridgestone tyres that they had switched to either. All told, a directionless season for a seemingly directionless (but filthy rich) team. Prospects for 2007: Frankly, who knows? The driving line-up remains the same but fills few with excitement. There's no one in the technical staff whom you immediately think can turn the team around. Money can't buy success, but you're better off having money than not, and Toyota has just that. Regular podiums must be the first target. Rating: 4.5/10

7. Toro Rosso Cosworth

Even if the character of Minardi had disappeared, and no one really seriously believed that this was a continuation of the Faenza squad (although they were still based there), there was still quite a bit of style at Scuderia Toro Rosso. Apart from the exotic name, they had the most daring paint job seen in many a year, they had the coolest driver in the field in Vitantonio Liuzzi, and they also had the most aptly named in Scott Speed. But did the substance match the style? It depended on which way you looked at it. With the injection of cash and virtually last year's Red Bull chassis, they were further up the field than where Minardi had been. At some races, like Australia, America, and several races at the end of the year, they were on level terms with the senior team. But the rev-limited V10 gave them little or no advantage regardless of the noises MF1 made, and development on the chassis and the engine was limited as the year went on.

Overall, a solitary point from the race of attrition at Indianapolis was probably less than what they hoped for. Nevertheless, Franz Tost and Gerhard Berger ran a tight and respectable operation, but one wonders if they could have done more to nurture their two drivers. Both have talent and pace to some degree, but both made too many errors all season, and it felt like these rough diamonds weren't being smoothed. It all made for an ongoing B-team feel, that this was a squad of apprentices, discards and off-cuts. Prospects for 2007: They'll have Ferrari engines next year, and if they can wrangle their way to this year's Red Bull chassis as well, they'll essentially have this year's A-team package, which was nothing to write home about. Either that, or they'll have to build their own chassis, which wouldn't be good news. Overall, expect more of the same. Rating: 5/10

6. McLaren Mercedes

Can one man really make that much of a difference? Adrian Newey laid the groundwork for the MP4-21, and left for Red Bull. Mike Coughlan and co were left with the task of refining this year's car into a bullet, and, frankly, didn't. After having the quickest car of last season, for much of this year McLaren were a lonely 3rd in the constructors' title, and justifiably so. Here was a regular points and podium-scoring machine, but not a race-winning one. Chassis, aerodynamics and engine were simply not quite on the money. Only really in Monaco, Canada, Italy and China did the car show anything like winning pace. Some will look at the team's finishing record and think that reliability was once again poor. However, Kimi Raikkonen only suffered two race mechanical failures (albeit at Monaco and Shanghai when he was in real contention), and the other car only had three between Juan-Pablo Montoya and Pedro de la Rosa. Trouble was, eight DNFs were caused by either collisions or crashes.

Strategically, the team never found a happy medium. They started the year running heavy fuel loads and conservative tactics that compromised track position. Later in the year, Raikkonen was taking poles but on unsustainably lightish fuel loads. Montoya's mid-season departure was a distraction, but must surely have also been partly caused by the early signing of Alonso for 2007 and all that that said about McLaren's faith in JPM. It was McLaren's first winless year since 1996, and that was unsatisfying. Prospects for 2007: Welcome Vodafone, welcome Fernando Alonso, welcome the number 1 on their car, welcome Lewis Hamilton. A brand new start in so many respects, McLaren doing well might even be refreshing. But with the much-discussed technical brain drain, and Mercedes still playing catch-up, no one can really guess how they'll go. Rating: 6/10

5. Honda

Honda's publicity machine always seems to be slightly out of sync with reality. After promising the world and flunking in 2005, they declared that their sole aim in their new guise as purely Honda was to win a race this year. Pre-season times suggested that they would achieve that target, and perhaps even give the titles a shake. But when reality showed that they were off the pace of the Renaults and Ferraris, they kept claiming that they had a chance race after race, even when it was patently clear that they did not. The win of course did finally come in the odd circumstances of Budapest. Mission accomplished, right? Look past the sound-bytes, though, and surely this could not be a serious team if they didn't have championship intent. And from that point of view 2006 was a bit disappointing. From early in the season, they were in 4th in the constructors points, unchallenged from behind and unable to challenge McLaren ahead, let alone Renault and Ferrari. In short, there was no escaping that they were only fourth best.

On the up-side, there seemed to be real cohesion between Nick Fry and Gil de Ferran's leadership, Geoff Willis' technical expertise, and Jenson Button as the undisputed lead driver. Apart from the odd wonky round mid-season, most notably in France, the RA106 package was a consistent points-scorer, and a nice step forward. But they couldn't stroke the best out of Rubens Barrichello all season, and their overall position in the field was below what we know their expectations really are. Whatever the spin-doctors say. Prospects for 2007: Next season provides them with a great opportunity. A bit more competitiveness and they would be able to win a few races at least. The thing that they have, that Renault, Ferrari and McLaren all don't, is staff continuity. The big challenge will be Bridgestone tyres, but surely the top 3 in both titles has to be the target. Rating: 6/10

4. Super Aguri Honda

Now this might come as a surprise, and it's true that Super Aguri achieved nothing like what, say, Jordan, Sauber and Stewart did in their debut years - in fact, on the scoresheet, they scored nothing at all. But bear in mind that twelve months ago, Super Aguri as an F1 team was only a concept. There was the Honda engine deal for keeping Takuma Sato in F1, a factory, the ability to use four-year-old Arrows chassis, and, um, nothing else except huge slabs of optimism and determination. They made it to Bahrain with two cars, and got Sato to the finish. By Australia, Taku ran the first part of the race in the midfield, ahead of Barrichello in the works Honda. Super Aguri were a constant work in progress, putting new parts on the cars at every race, and even bringing out a new car for the last seven races of the year. It culminated in that amazing Brazilian GP, when they came 7th and 9th in the fastest lap standings, and Sato finished 10th ahead of Red Bulls, Toro Rossos and Spyker MF1s.

Sure, the team had their fair share of mechanical difficulties as well as scrapes and bingles. Sure, at one stage it was rumoured that Aguri Suzuki and managing director Daniele Audetto were not on good terms, but that seemed to be resolved. Sure, they had trouble in the second car with on Franck Montagny shining but Yuji Ide and Sakon Yamamoto struggling. But in twelve months, they had gained the entire pit lane's respect, and they had taken over from Minardi as everyone's second-favourite team. Prospects for 2007: If they can get this year's Honda chassis, then points will beckon, but that is a big 'if' in the current anti-customer-car climate. If not, more struggles beckon. But with Sato remembering how to drive again, and Anthony Davidson as well, they'll put in more performances that continue to endear them to the F1 public. Rating: 7/10

3. BMW Sauber

We all thought this would be a getting-to-know-you year, as the folk at Hinwil got diluted by the influx from Munich. But they hit the ground running and never looked back. The F1.06 and the BMW engine made for a neat, compact package that seemed easy to handle, Nick Heidfeld revelled in being a team leader, and even the unloved (even by team management) Jacques Villeneuve found his mojo again. Heidfeld qualified in the top 10 in Bahrain, Villeneuve scored in Malaysia, and they both scored in Melbourne. Previously, Sauber's greatest bugbear was that they would have a competitive chassis early in the season, but there would be no development as the year wore on. With BMW ownership and cash, that was no longer a problem. Although there were some off-colour weekends, like San Marino, Monaco and Germany, usually they were on the fringes of the top 10 in qualifying and in the hunt for the minor points. 19 times out of 36 attempts they participated in the third segment of qualifying, and they finished with 36 points.

Most impressive, though, was their last third of the season. They had been in the hunt for Friday honours all year, first with Robert Kubica and then with Sebastian Vettel, but when the opportunity came to finally dispatch Villeneuve, Kubica stepped up to the plate in spectacular fashion. It rejuvenated Heidfeld and the rest of the team, and despite the speed not always being backed up by results, like in Turkey and Brazil, on pace alone they were giving the likes of McLaren, Honda and Toyota some real headaches. Prospects for 2007: Things are only going to get better. With Sauber's fantastic wind-tunnel, the 2007 chassis will be strong. And with continuity from the tail-end of the season, regular podiums, even a surprise win, are possible. Far out, with the likes of Kubica and Vettel these stuffy codgers are even starting to look exciting and youthful! Rating: 7.5/10

2. Ferrari

After the woes of 2005, Jean Todt unveiled the new 248 F1 saying that Ferrari were going into this year "with great humility". At the time we couldn't be sure, but in hindsight we now know that that was code for saying that they were hungry and poised for a fightback. The two major problems with last year's package, chassis and tyres, were solved. The new car proved easy on the eye and easy in the hands of the pilot, and the return of tyre changes allowed Bridgestone to return to they tried and trusted best. For some moments in the first half of the season, and for most of the second half, the Ferrari was the car to beat. What they couldn't emulate, however, was the ruthlessness of pre-2005 Ferrari. That mantle had gone to their rivals Renault. For two-thirds of the year Felipe Massa could not provide enough support and had too many wild moments. Michael Schumacher still made his occasional mistakes, and the team didn't handle the Monaco debacle and Schumi's retirement speculation in the most elegant way.

But it was on two fronts in particular that Ferrari lost ground. One was engine reliability with the new V8, with problems in Malaysia and most notably Japan proving costly. The other was in terms of strategy. The team's lack of intervention in Malaysia, Hungary and Turkey, whilst laudable from a sporting perspective, cost Schumacher valuable points. In the end, it was a fine rebound and a worthy sign-off year for Schumacher, Ross Brawn and Paolo Martinelli, but being pipped for both titles was not the perfect finale. Prospects for 2007: The momentum is there, and Ferrari is sure to manage change in the least distracting fashion. But change there is, and major ones. There is no Schumi, no Brawn, no Byrne, no Martinelli. Raikkonen and Massa can maximise potential, another title-winning year wouldn't be a surprise, but the whole team has huge shoes to fill. Rating: 8.5/10

1. Renault

The French manufacturer may not have been able to control the championship as they did last year, but in a way that made their second straight double-title more impressive. For all the appearance of continuity, there was enough that could have gone wrong. The R26 was new, even if an evolution of the successful R25. The team had to ditch their title-winning engine for a V8. Michelin was less enthusiastic than in previous years. And they raced the whole year knowing Fernando Alonso was leaving at the end of it. A rampant first half of the season showed that despite all this, they remained the team to beat. Even in the second half, when Ferrari threw the kitchen sink at the them, and officialdom seemed to collude against them, they never wavered and took their eyes of maximising every opportunity. The team honourably backed Alonso to the very end. Their tactical ingenuity often surpassed Ferrari's, most notably in France, and Flavio Briatore remained the most consummate politician in pit lane.

The facts in the end speak for themselves. Alonso and the team recorded the same number of victories as the year before, although this year featured one fewer race. Both Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella outscored their tally from 2005. The team didn't get the best out of Fisichella, but that's not necessarily their fault. There were only 3 race mechanical failures, and 32 points finishes from 36. It was a near-perfect year in terms of championship-winning consistency, even if they weren't always the fastest car. Prospects for 2007: Renault face just as much change as their main rivals, but whereas McLaren is embracing that change, and Ferrari take it in their stride, Renault seem to give 'the golden era is over' vibes. And, in truth, the Fisichella-Kovalainen combination simply doesn't strike fear into anyone. Another title would surprise. Rating: 9/10

Here are our driver reviews for the season, ranked here according to a rating out of 10 awarded by us. We have taken into consideration their equipment, past form, luck (or lack thereof) and, just as importantly, our initial expectations for 2006.

27. Tiago Monteiro

The Portuguese driver was never the most blistering rookie ever to hit F1 last year, but his cautious and reliable approach, as well as his improved speed over the course of 2005, earned him a lot of respect. In particular, from us. Sadly, this year was a major downward slide. In terms of performances in qualifying (as opposed to final grid positions), team-mate Albers dominated him 13 to 5, and in the seven races when both MF1s saw the chequered flag, Albers got the better of him 5 to 2.

And yet it was Monteiro who had remained with the same team, whereas Albers was the newcomer. Only in Hungary did Tiago catch any attention; Christijan did so several times. Apart from his inability to keep improving his pace, he also lost his reliability. The two collisions with Albers in Monaco and Canada were arguably his fault, he spun out in France and China, and he also spun off on his first flying lap in qualifying in Brazil. Were it not for our revised reject podium criteria, he would have been 'Reject of the Year'.

Prospects for 2007: Despite the Dutch influence over the Spyker operation, money talks and it looks like Tiago will be able to buy himself into a third F1 season, though he's no longer young enough to be rising star material. Albers will likely be given favouritism by Spyker. Monteiro will face a tough road to regaining respectability. Rating: 2.5/10

26. Yuji Ide

This year it was too difficult to draw a line between those who had driven enough races to be afforded a full review, and those who had not. And so we get a full two paragraphs to discuss the delights we got to sample from Yuji Ide's performances. With only a good Formula Nippon season in 2005 to recommend him, and with barely a shakedown to speak of before debuting along with his brand new team at Bahrain, poor Yuji was always going to be facing a baptism of fire. But we still didn't expect what we saw.

He was 1.7 seconds slower than team-mate Sato in qualifying in Malaysia and San Marino, 2.8s in Bahrain, and 3.9s in Australia, having run off the track a handful of times and causing a red flag. He then tipped Albers into a barrel-roll at Imola and had his superlicence ignominiously removed. In short, he was the least able F1 driver in a decade. The difficult circumstances that he faced, and the fact that he only got four races, mean that we have to give him some benefit of the doubt. But it's not much.

Prospects for 2007: In terms of his racing career, Ide's disastrous foray into F1 has scarred him for life. He returned to Formula Nippon, where he did, er, nothing. He'll probably never come near to an F1 car again, but we'll be pleased if he does. More likely that he'll be one of the many Japanese peddlers with prolonged careers in his homeland. Rating: 2.5/10

25. Sakon Yamamoto

A number of drivers over the years failed to complete their first racing lap in their first race. But no one managed to fail to complete the first lap in both his first two races until Sakon Yamamoto came along. The Japanese driver made his Grand Prix weekend debut in Japan last year as Jordan's Friday driver, and he performed impressively enough to make you wonder why Yuji Ide was chosen over him in Super Aguri's original line-up. By Silverstone, he was indeed in Super Aguri's fold as their Friday driver.

He finally got his racing chance at Hockenheim, which coincided with the debut of the new SA06, but new car troubles dented his confidence. Only in Turkey did he out-qualify Sato, but generally he was not as close to Takuma's times as his predecessor Montagny had been. He also seemed to have difficulty with stamina, spinning out in Istanbul after a respectable showing. He finally got to grips with F1, coming 7th in the fastest lap rankings in Brazil, but it had taken him too long to produce anything like his best speed.

Prospects for 2007: As a result of not impressing enough until it was too late, Super Aguri have signed Anthony Davidson. Yamamoto is unlikely to get an F1 chance other than at Super Aguri, but frankly a testing role with them that's not likely to lead to anything better is not as attractive as regular competitive racing back in Japan or in GP2. Rating: 3.5/10

24. Rubens Barrichello

2006 was meant to be the year in which the Brazilian broke free of the shackles of Ferrari and established himself as a front-runner in his own right. Sure, he joined a team where Jenson Button was very much part of the furniture, but Rubens did get his share of pre-season testing, and given his experience, the way that he was all at sea with the Honda in the first few races was a major surprise. He finally managed to out-qualify Jenson at the Nurburgring, and at that point he turned the corner, in qualifying at least.

Indeed, given some rounds mid-season when things for Button went badly pear-shaped, it could be said that Rubens was slightly the more consistent for the rest of the season. But consistent in what way? 10 times he qualified in the top 10 but finished lower than where he'd started. He did have some of his customary bad luck, but the way in which he tended to slip down the order during the race was all too common. That, and scoring 30 points to Button's 56 with no podiums, was surely not what Honda employed him for.

Prospects for 2007: Fortunately, Honda see him as a medium-term proposition, so Rubinho gets another chance. His well of excuses is usually deep, but in 2007 they will run dry. Fairly regular podiums and a win must be the minimum, and he must match Button in both qualifying, racing, and on points, or else it could mark his last season. Rating: 4/10

23. Juan-Pablo Montoya

If it weren't such an image that's associated with females, you'd say that our macho JPM was a candle in the wind that's finally been blown out, in F1 at least. Unsettled by McLaren's signing of Alonso for 2007, even though in hindsight the fact that Raikkonen had already signed for Ferrari meant that he in fact had a good shot of retaining his seat, he lost much of his composure. It resulted in that mix of occasional rapid showings, and other moments when you wonder if he has the concentration span of a goldfish.

Not counting Bahrain where Raikkonen didn't record a time, Montoya only out-qualified the Finn twice in nine rounds. Although he did put in a number of solid points-scoring performances, particularly his podiums in San Marino and Imola, despite McLaren's conservative strategies early in the season, his moments of sheer daftness in Australia, Spain, Canada and America were bewildering. And he promptly left for NASCAR - motorsport's Big Mac if F1 is gourmet cuisine. Which is probably how JPM likes it.

Prospects for 2007: He's already made his Nextel Cup debut with a bang, crashing out in a fiery ball. Chip Ganassi may be a major name in US open wheelers, but in NASCAR they're midfielders. Although he'll want success, even if he doesn't get it he'll at least have fun, although it's amazing how quickly he'll be forgotten by F1. Rating: 4.5/10

22. Robert Doornbos

No one drove fewer races than the Dutchman during the 2006 season. What's more, he drove his three events for Red Bull at the tail end of the year, by which stage they had long given up paying any attention to this season. Perhaps the greatest tribute to Robert is that, having spent time as a Friday tester for Jordan and as a race driver for Minardi, Dietrich Mateschitz and Christian Horner picked him for Friday duties, a sure sign that they had seen something in Doornbos that had impressed them.

In this three races he got after Christian Klien vacated the seat, he did enough to suggest that, had a driver of his ilk been in F1 a decade ago, he would probably have been an F1 regular. He out-qualified David Coulthard twice, and made the last segment of qualifying first time out in China. He finished that race too, despite an early mishap; in fact, he finished all three of his races. There was no doubting that he had done as well as he could in the situation that he was placed, but there was too little to judge him by.

Prospects for 2007: Doornbos relinquishes the race seat again to Mark Webber for 2007, but with Klien having left for Honda testing duties, Robert could still remain in the Red Bull fold. For the sake of continuity, and with Doornbos being as solid as he is, the energy drink team could do a lot worse. The Dutchman has his place in F1. Rating: 5/10

21. Franck Montagny

Montagny found himself in an unenviable position at the beginning of 2006. He had been off-loaded as Renault tester, he was generally overlooked by the paddock, and he didn't sit on enough euros to buy an F1 or Champ Car drive. So he initially took up the Super Aguri reserve driver role, then answered the SOS when Yuji Ide was kicked out of F1. His appointment was probably at team manager Daniele Audetto's behest, for in truth he was an oddity in what was meant to be (in appearance, at least) the all-Japanese team.

He was also taking the second SA05 chassis, at a time when the team was focussing on the SA06. In the circumstances, then, he did fairly well. He only out-qualified Sato once, but he got closer than Ide or Yamamoto did. He employed a steady approach in races, although he was hit by unreliability. But overall he did the right kind of job for the team, and he returned for 5 Friday outings later on. It was easy to underestimate his worth to the rookie squad, but his opportunities were too limited for a proper assessment.

Prospects for 2007: Franck unfortunately joins a list of worthy drivers who will end up being overlooked by the midfield and front-running teams, so to keep himself on the F1 radar he's done a comparatively wise thing and joined Toyota as tester. If Toyota rebound and show ongoing development, Montagny's stocks in the paddock may rise. Rating: 5/10

20. Christian Klien

After being one of the revelations of 2005, expectations of the Austrian rose but were largely unfulfilled this year. He started 8th in Bahrain and Malaysia, and finished 8th at Sakhir as well, as if his form from last year was continuing. But then he knocked Kimi Raikkonen out at Sepang, and had a major shunt in Melbourne. Sometimes drivers refuse to admit that a large accident has dented their confidence, but there was no doubt that after that Klien descended into this uninspired shell without coming back out.

He never qualified in the top 10 again, but he was unlucky at Monaco, where he would have scored the podium that went to his DC. He got himself caught up in the general malaise sweeping through his team, and didn't help his cause by doing silly things like causing one of the first corner incidents at Indy, and crashing in Hungary. But his biggest error was to reject the Red Bull-financed Champ Car drive for next year, electing to put himself on the market - and therefore getting dumped for the last 3 rounds.

Prospects for 2007: Klien's nevertheless handed a fairly plum job as Honda tester, but he's not a renowned developmental driver, and it would come as a surprise if Honda genuinely consider him to be, say, a long-term replacement for Barrichello. Honda test drivers don't get promoted easily either; Christian should talk to Anthony Davidson. Rating: 5/10

19. Christijan Albers

This year's MF1 was, comparatively speaking, only marginally better than the Minardi at Albers' disposal last year. Nevertheless, the Dutchman made more of an impression this season. As he settled down into an environment in which he was comfortable, and increasingly so with the Spyker buy-out at the end of the year, he easily coped with team-mate Tiago Monteiro. Five times he made it past the first segment of qualifying, which given the MF1's standing as the second-slowest car in the field, was noteworthy.

Among those was a superb 14th grid position at Indianapolis, plus his terrific drive in Turkey when he clung tenaciously onto the midfield runners for much of the race. His season was blighted by lack of reliability (he had three engine changes in a row from Germany to Turkey) and a few too many scrapes and clashes, including his quintuple roll at Imola, two tangles with his team-mate, and that spectacular suspension failure at Suzuka, which meant that he didn't finish as much or as highly as he probably deserved.

Prospects for 2007: Under Spyker management, and as the existing Dutch driver, Albers could well thrive in this environment. With Mike Gascoyne on board as well, more improvement can be expected as Christijan goes into his third season in F1. Getting as many as five or six points on the board would not come as that big a surprise. Rating: 5.5/10

18. David Coulthard

This season had to go down, alongside 1996 and 2004, as among the veteran Scot's most disappointing. He had been so rejuvenated last season, but he seemed to get deflated very quickly during the off-season over the RB02's cooling problems. Reliability issues made for a slow start to the year, before a stronger mid-season that featured the podium at Monaco from 7th on the grid, minor points in both North American races, two more top 10 starts in France and Germany, and 5th in the rain in Hungary.

But as Red Bull's season ground to a halt, so did DC's. His qualifying performance in Brazil was the worst of his career. Admittedly he was often burdened with heavy fuel loads on Sunday afternoons, thus affecting his speed, there was no doubt that his motivation floundered. It was thus unfortunate that he also took public pot-shots at others, like at his own team for their lack of development, and at the Monza authorities for the lack of run-off areas. It made him sound a tad old and precious.

Prospects for 2007: DC struggled at McLaren against Hakkinen and Raikkonen, two no-nonsense drivers who just went out and Did It. He'll have another team-mate like that next year in an ultra-determined Mark Webber. He will need to make full use of his advantage as the team incumbent if he is to have any chance of beating the Aussie. Rating: 5.5/10

17. Vitantonio Liuzzi

Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger believes that Tonio is, along with the likes of Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen, amongst the next generation of F1 stars. On this season's evidence, either Berger is a poor judge, or Liuzzi isn't fulfilling his potential. The Italian did not have a bad year by any stretch of the imagination. He scored his team's only point at Indianapolis, and he got into the second segment of qualifying in 10 out of the 18 races. Pace-wise he had the edge on team-mate Scott Speed.

He didn't suffer a race-ending mechanical failure all year; his four retirements all came from collisions and driving errors. He put on several sprightly performances when dicing with midfield runners, for example in Bahrain and in the early stages in Turkey. But what the final scoresheets belie is the number of spins, off-track excursions, and time-costing moments that Liuzzi had during the season. No one doubts his speed, but he seemed to be going on talent alone. The jury remained out on whether he was the total package.

Prospects for 2007: Toro Rosso have retained Liuzzi for another year. That firstly indicates where he stands in the Red Bull pecking order, and at this stage there are still big question marks over STR's competitiveness next season. Regardless of that, Tonio must show that he is able to develop the steadiness to match his speed. Rating: 5.5/10

16. Scott Speed

Some may find it somewhat controversial that we have placed Speed in front of his team-mate. After all, Liuzzi out-qualified Speed 13 to 5, and the Italian also had the better of the race results. There was no denying that, despite his name, what the first American in F1 since Michael Andretti discernibly lacked was, in fact, speed. Only six times did he survive the first qualifying cut. Scott seemed to struggle to extract the best lap times from his car, whereas for Liuzzi it seemed to come more naturally.

Although he lost his 8th in Australia for passing under yellows, that result was a false dawn. What really turned his season around was his home race at Indy, where he qualified 13th before getting tangled up with the McLarens and Heidfeld. That gave him the confidence to out-qualify Liuzzi three more times, and to finish races consistently. There were still errors born of inexperience, like switching to dry tyres too early in Hungary, but his improvement as the year wore on was marked, and we liked that.

Prospects for 2007: Speed is meant to have another season with Toro Rosso, but rumours persist that he may be left on the sidelines if they find a more cashed-up driver. That would be a pity because, although he's no new Mario Andretti, the rate at which he's learnt his craft suggests that in '07 he should score a point that he actually keeps. Rating: 5.5/10

15. Jarno Trulli

It was hardly a vintage year for Jarno, and we already know that even vintage Trulli is hardly a prize red wine. At the end of last year he had trouble coping with the zero-keel TF105B, and he never entirely gelled with this year's car either. He still managed to get into the top ten in qualifying 10 times despite the average machinery, but he only beat Ralf Schumacher in that department on 7 occasions throughout the season, and never in two consecutive races. It was hardly the display of a renowned qualifying king.

His racing continued to lack spark. Combined with unreliability in both practice and races, he failed to score a point until Canada, by which stage he had gone 12 races without a point dating back to the tail-end of 2005 - although he was massively unlucky to lose a podium at Monaco. Strong drives to 4th and 7th in America and Germany from the back of the grid owed more to strategy, and too often when he did qualify well, once again faster rivals held up behind him found themselves aboard the 'Trulli train'.

Prospects for 2007: Jarno enters his 11th F1 season in 2007. By now his hope lies in a prolonged career at Toyota, where he will stay until the end of 2009. Sadly, Toyota's uneven form reflects in Jarno's own. It looks like more of the same: the occasional blistering qualifying time and good result, with a lot of treading water in between. Rating: 5.5/10

14. Ralf Schumacher

The other Schumacher did get the better of team-mate Trulli in 2006, but that's not saying that much. He out-scored his team-mate 20 points to 15, and he got into the last segment of qualifying 13 times compared to Trulli's 10. He scored his team's only podium of the year in Australia despite a drive-through penalty, and overall he seemed to respond better to the TF106. As the year went on, Ralf was more at the forefront of what development there was, than Jarno had been.

Other than that, it was the usual fare from Ralf. We know he had the speed, but it was not matched by enough results, through a combination of mechanical problems, incidents, and penalties. Five retirements in six races in the middle of the year from the European GP to Indianapolis hurt his season-long momentum. Apart from his fine drive in Melbourne, and three other good points efforts in France, Hungary and Turkey, overall it was pretty uninspiring stuff, but no less than what we've come to expect.

Prospects for 2007: Like Trulli, Ralf has a long-term place at Toyota, but this combo of drivers and team has 'dull' written all over it. But undeniably 2007 is an opportunity for Ralf, as the only Schumacher in the field. With more than just irregular results, he can emerge from his brother's shadow as establish himself as a genuine team leader. Rating: 6/10

13. Jacques Villeneuve

It didn't take a genius to work out that Jacques wasn't a wanted man at BMW. But rather than crumble, he set out to prove the doubters wrong. The pace and aggression of old was no longer there, but he did beat team-mate Heidfeld 7 times out of 12 in qualifying. But was he giving Nick enough competition to bring the best out of the German, such that that statistic was a genuine comparison? Either way, Villeneuve's biggest problem was that he couldn't make use of race opportunities, which was a Heidfeld specialty.

At the time he left the team, Heidfeld had twice as many points as he did and was scoring regularly. Jacques, on the other hand, had just had three DNFs in four races, including two crashes. The scoresheet and Villeneuve's soreness after his Hockenheim crash gave BMW enough of an excuse to replace him with Kubica. It was a rather inglorious end to the Canadian's F1 career after his championship victory in 1997, but he had done his best during 2006 to give it as good a postscript as he could manage.

Prospects for 2007: Well, there's enjoying marriage ... and fatherhood ... and a potential rebirth (?) as a pop star. Jacques has made enough out of racing to live on it, and he'll probably feel jaded about the whole industry right now. He might end up in NASCAR, but that style of racing wouldn't suit his style as much as Champ Cars would. Rating: 6/10

12. Pedro de la Rosa

How Pedro would be spewing right now. Just when he gets an extended run as a McLaren racer, it's during a winless year for the team when the car is not brilliant. Apart from that awesome 2nd place at the Hungaroring in the equalising weather conditions, he was solid as expected but did little to catch the eye. He never really had a shout of being part of an all-Spanish line-up at McLaren in '07, with Lewis Hamilton in the wings, and it was surprising that Hamilton or Gary Paffett didn't get a run towards the end of the year.

How much of that was the team's fault, and how much of it was Pedro's? A lot came down to the MP4-21, which even in Raikkonen's hands only showed glimpses of race-winning potential, and the fact that McLaren were trying 2007-spec parts on his car. But, at 35, with the exception of Hungary, we also saw little of that racer's edge that was evident in Bahrain last year. Heavy fuel loads after lowly qualifying efforts didn't help, but perhaps too much testing had dulled de la Rosa's racing verve.

Prospects for 2007: With Lewis Hamilton confirmed in the second McLaren seat for 2007, de la Rosa returns to testing duties, where undoubtedly he is an asset. Caught up in the general Spanish fervour for F1 at the moment, he will not only assist in car development, he can reduce the promotional burden off Alonso's shoulders as well. Rating: 6/10

11. Nico Rosberg

The highlights of the season for the German rookie with Finnish championship-winning pedigree were easy to identify. He started with a bang in Bahrain, claiming 2 points and fastest lap including a terrific late charge. He then qualified 3rd for the next race in Malaysia, later on there was another fine drive at the Nurburgring where he came from the back of the grid to finish 7th, and in Canada he qualified 6th when Mark Webber didn't make the first cut. But that was all; there were no more points in the last 13 races.

That didn't mean the rest of it was bad for Keke's son. He out-qualified Webber 6 times, he remained steady throughout, and it didn't feel like he was a rookie. It couldn't have been easy when his car kept failing, although that would have been character-building. But for a GP2 champion, and after the Bahrain performance, we probably expected a bit more. That, plus his collisions with Montoya and Webber in Canada and Brazil, and his crash at Hockenheim, showed that while he belonged in F1, there was room to improve.

Prospects for 2007: Things should fall into place a bit more for Nico next year. With Toyota engines, the Williams package should be more reliable, even if not super-fast. And in Alex Wurz, he has a team-mate who hasn't raced full-time in six years. He must look to assert himself in the team and aim for around 10 to 20 points at least. Rating: 6/10

10. Nick Heidfeld

Heidfeld is F1's equivalent of a fattened pigeon in a park. He devours every scrap that's available to him, and sometimes he'll score a big meal to gobble down. He wasn't the greatest qualifier all season, and the year in truth started slowly with only 4th place in Australia from the first 5 races to show. But in the remaining 13 events, he scored points in nine of them, and all but his 3rd place in Hungary were either 7th or 8th places. Whenever points were for the taking after frontrunners' mishaps, Heidfeld was there.

In fact, he may have even scored more were it not for 6 collisions over the course of the year, only one of which (his spectacular flip at Indy) ended his race. The one criticism of him, though, and it's not an insignificant one, is that he takes opportunities but doesn't make opportunities. That is, he's an expert at getting the most from a situation, but he doesn't extend himself beyond that. It was worrying that Mario Theissen reckoned at having Kubica in the second seat meant Heidfeld found an extra 0.5s a lap.

Prospects for 2007: Heidfeld is the de facto lead driver at BMW Sauber, but his style and attitude makes him more suited to being a rock-solid number 2. Kubica now has experience of all the tracks in an F1 car and could be a real handful to deal with. Nick will score another bag of points as he always does, but Kubica might exceed his score. Rating: 6.5/10

9. Giancarlo Fisichella

On what basis do you judge Fisi's 2006 season? With Alonso leaving at the end of the year, here was a golden opportunity to endear himself to the team and to make himself the focus of the team's attentions, and he promised he would take it. He ended up 4th in the championship on 72 points, he finished in the points 16 times from 18 races, he qualified in the top 10 on 16 occasions as well, he took a victory at Sepang, and he only had one race-ending error all season in Hungary. All that was commendable enough.

Problem was, he averaged 4 points per race - in other words, 5th place per race. Alonso averaged almost 7.5 points per race. Fernando scored 62 points more than he did. He only claimed 5 podiums, and four of those were 3rds. He was only on the front row three times, and only at Indy did he really have his team-mate's measure. All this in a title-winning car! Giancarlo made heavy weather of supporting Alonso and Renault's title bids, and his performances meant the team had no choice but to support Fernando.

Prospects for 2007: There's lots of change at Renault for next year, but Fisi is more likely to be consumed by the changes rather than leading the team through it. Kovalainen will give him tough competition. Another win or two and lots of points is the likely outcome, but Fisi is promising a title challenge. We're not holding our breaths. Rating: 6.5/10

8. Takuma Sato

Cast with the responsibility of leading a new team that had possibly been created primarily to keep him in F1, 2006 was the year when Sato would either renew his credentials or spend more time frequenting the scenery. Indeed, he still had the odd wild and woolly moment, like in Spain and Canada, like his collision with Monteiro at Indy when points might have been on offer on a day of attrition, and like his blatant refusal to heed the blue flags in the dying stages in Shanghai.

But overall he displayed the leadership that the team needed on the track, and he always did the best he could with the machinery at his disposal, even if that wasn't much - but it was noticeable nonetheless. He showed the way to his rookie team-mates, he qualified 18th at Indianapolis which was an amazing effort in the senile SA05, and he put in one of the drives of the season at Interlagos when he beat home Red Bulls, Toro Rossos and Spyker MF1s, in an effort that gave the doubters some food for thought.

Prospects for 2007: The interim Super Aguri that has just appeared in testing looks suspiciously like a Honda from this year. We're not sure how Super Aguri will get away with that, but if so, it's good news, because points will be possible. However, Anthony Davidson is a better quality driver and will probably beat Taku over a season. Rating: 6.5/10

7. Robert Kubica

The first Pole in F1 was without doubt the Friday man of the year. A left-field choice at the beginning of the year, it was one thing to do laps on low fuel loads, it was quite another to do timesheet-topping times (or close to) on tracks he had never seen before. Thrust into the limelight in Hungary as Villeneuve's replacement, he made the top 10 in qualifying, and then had to cope with the toughest race conditions seen all year - and he still finished 7th on the road before disqualification afterwards for being underweight.

Two races later, he came 3rd at Monza from 6th on the grid, becoming the fastest man to reach the podium since Alexander Wurz, who also took three races to grace the dais in 1997. In Robert's six events, he qualified in the top 10 five times, and even if he made errors that emanated from inexperience, such as a weak middle segment in Turkey and changing to dries too soon in China, he was easily the revelation of the season and might have been even higher up the rankings had he driven in more races.

Prospects for 2007: Kubica has now see all the circuits for next year except for Spa. Heidfeld will hold no fears since Robert has already been able to push him hard. There is every chance that he will add more podiums, and along with Hamilton and Kovalainen lead the next generation to give Alonso, Raikkonen and co more than a few scares. Rating: 7/10

6. Mark Webber

Before anyone accuses us of one-eyed Webber favouritism, by no means did the Australian have an entirely impressive year. He failed to make the first cut in qualifying in Britain, Canada and Italy, which was more than most drivers in the field who weren't driving Toro Rossos, MF1s and Super Aguris. His season did tail off a little bit once it was clear he was moving to Red Bull for 2007, and his errors in Hungary and Japan were a tad embarrassing. But overall, his was a year of respectable toil in the face of adversity.

And what adversity it was. Mechanical failures struck when he was about to capitalise on longer-fuelled strategies at Albert Park, the Nurburgring and Hockenheim, plus he retired in the points in Malaysia and most notably at Monaco where he was an outside chance for the win. Sometimes he made blistering starts from lower grid positions, but three times he was taken out by others at Silverstone, Indianapolis and Interlagos. Frustration was the story of his year, but he showed regular glimpses of the immense speed he had.

Prospects for 2007: One should be quick not to expect too much from the Red Bull package, just because they have an Adrian Newey chassis and Renault engines. But, in the familiar surroundings of the old Jaguar team, Webber is determined to make up for two wasted years by adding some podiums. Anyone in his way should watch out. Rating: 7/10

5. Felipe Massa

The transformation of the Brazilian was incredible, from the quick upstart who qualified on the front row in Bahrain on his Ferrari debut and spun early on whilst lying 2nd, and who crashed twice in qualifying in the first seven rounds, to a man who took three poles and two peerless wins in the last five races of the year. Many thought that Massa would be lucky to last more than one year at Maranello. Now a championship challenge in 2007 would not come as a complete surprise.

There has never been any denying his inherent pace, but in the first half of the year he struggled to tame it into consistency. But from America and France onwards, as the car got better, he smoothed out his driving style, became far less aggressive with the steering wheel, and it paid dividends. Even if he still struggled in the wet and was not enough of a championship help to his team as he could have been, he came ever closer to Schumacher, and his breakthrough victories in Turkey and Brazil were well-deserved.

Prospects for 2007: Massa has momentum and continuity at Ferrari on his side. Raikkonen is exceptionally fast, but his icy persona might not gel with the team whereas Felipe already has strong relationships there. If the car is capable of wins, despite the departure of key staff, there is no reason why Massa shouldn't get his fair share. Rating: 7.5/10

4. Jenson Button

Jenson's season had its wobbles. In the mid-season stretch from Monaco to France, he scored zero points and three times he missed the top 10 in qualifying. But on either side of that, he established himself as Honda's undisputed lead driver, and the man at the forefront of the team's improvement. Before the mid-year trough, Button had shown excellent qualifying pace, especially in the first four races of the year including pole in Melbourne, and he had made the best of debatable strategies to score handy points.

From Germany onwards, though, it was his consistent speed that impressed. Between 4th and 7th six times out of seven in qualifying, he also finished six times in 3rd, 4th or 5th, and he had two exceptional drives from 14th on the grid - one in Brazil, and the other of course his victory in Hungary that finally got rid of the 'winless' tag. In those last 7 races of the year, only Schumacher scored more points. Easily accounting for Barrichello, Jenson established himself as the likely spearhead of any Honda title challenge in 2007.

Prospects for 2007: If the Honda is finally be good enough to fight for wins, Jenson must hit the ground running at the start of next season, while Raikkonen and Alonso settle in at new teams and Renault try to keep up. He should aim to emulate his 2004 season, when he scored 10 podiums and came 3rd in the championship. Rating: 7.5/10

3. Kimi Raikkonen

Once it became apparent that the McLaren was no world-beater this year, which may have even been before the season began, it is probably true that Raikkonen had one eye already on 2007 with the Ferrari contract in his pocket. So it's possibly fair to say that he was only at 95% capacity all season, but even so, he had a very good year in all the circumstances. The bare stats show that he only missed the top 10 in qualifying twice all season, and when he finished, it was always in 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th.

What those figures don't reveal is his drive from the back of the grid to 3rd in Bahrain. Or how he scored decent points in the early races when often he lost track position by running heavy fuel loads. Or how he retired in both Monaco and China when he looked like having the car speed to win. Or how he scored three dazzling pole positions late in the season, and pushed Alonso hard in Canada and Schumacher in Italy. He scored 7 points fewer than Fisichella in a much inferior car. The Iceman had still been superb.

Prospects for 2007: As long as he can get over the culture change of going to Ferrari, and as long as next year's car isn't affected by not having Ross Brawn, Kimi won't get a better shot at the title while Alonso settles in at McLaren. With Ferrari the form team going into the off-season, he will be disappointed with anything less than title glory. Rating: 8/10

2. Michael Schumacher

It was fitting that in his final season in F1, Michael left us with so many enduring images and memories. To get the unpleasant out of the way first, there was the senselessness of his antics at Monaco followed by his emphatic denials in the face of public outrage. There were his misjudgments in Australia and Hungary that ensured those nagging doubts about his place amongst the all-time greats followed him out the door. But these were mere blips in a season that proved to be a celebration of his brilliance.

Finally eclipsing Ayrton Senna's pole record, he only scored 4 poles, but his race speed and the ability to produce magic at will remained unequalled. His ingenious win at Imola kick-started his title campaign, he maximised his points mid-year, and he was often untouchable late in the season. His win in China will go down as one of his best, and there was that drive in Brazil. He seemed to really relish the clean title fight with Alonso, and his magnanimity in defeat ensured that he still went out as a champion nonetheless.

Prospects for 2007: Um, retirement? It is impossible to contemplate what may lie ahead for Michael. He's earned enough to last several lifetimes, and his role as a driver talent scout for Ferrari seems nominal at best. It's hard to envisage him making an F1 comeback, but we'll be surprised if he doesn't race again. He hasn't won Le Mans... Rating: 9/10

1. Fernando Alonso

As Schumacher and Ferrari ate into Fernando Alonso's championship lead, it was easy to overlook how sensational the young Spaniard was this year, and think that this season was not as impressive as his first title in 2005. How wrong they would be. The numbers start telling the story. He scored the same number of wins as last year (7), the same number of poles (6), but five fastest laps compared to just two last season. He scored one more point, and he finished 1st or 2nd in 14 of this year's 18 events.

His season was set up by the six wins and three 2nds in the first nine rounds, five of which came from pole but the rest from the second row or further back. He did have his off days at Indy and Hockenheim, but he recovered masterfully from the mass dampers setback, the disappointments of Hungary, and the drama and injustice of Monza. Despite knowing he was leaving Renault at year's end, he fused near-perfect, unflappable driving with a relentless thirst for points, and became the youngest ever double world champion.

Prospects for 2007: Alonso joins McLaren in the same kind of fashion as Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996. McLaren haven't won any title since 1999, few expect Alonso to deliver immediately, so the pressure is off and he could thrive. If he defends his crown, he'll be the first to win in consecutive years for two different teams since Fangio. Rating: 9.5/10

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