Dream team

We pick our favourite for the 2007 F1 World title.

What do you get when you pair a razor-sharp rookie and a hungry for victory world champion in the same team? No wait, also add a blazing quick Brazilian and an ice-cool Finn, both ambitious and scrapping for the title as well as number one billing in the rival team.

What you get is the Senna-Prost rivalry, as well as the Mansell-Piquet war, bundled nicely up into a TV friendly Formula One season. 2007 has been a cut-throat series this far, with more wheel-banging and overtaking than anyone can remember in F1 history. So, we profile the top four drivers with title hopes and pick our favourite for winning the title.

Fernando Alonso
This is Alonso's first season with McLaren and the champ showed his true colours with a second place in Australia ahead of his team mate. The MP4-21 turned out to be more car than he'd bargained for. McLaren had done their homework and more in the reliability tests over the winter. A win at Sepang was followed by a fifth place at Bahrain's Sakhir circuit.

But this time he was beaten by his team mate, Lewis Hamilton, the "mere" rookie. Alonso was clearly unhappy. Third at home in Spain followed by an emphatic win at Monaco kept Alonso in contention for the championship. But an impressively consistent team mate was steadily chipping away.

Nurburgring was Alonso's high point of the season as he banged wheels and hurled harsh words while hunting down Massa in the Ferrari for a nailbiting finish. Alonso caught and passed him, leaving the Ferrari standing in his wake.

But then it started to go downhill for Alonso. He was stripped of pole position in Hungary for preventing Hamilton from going out on a flying lap. A race Hamilton won easily leading from start to finish. With Ron Dennis firm on giving both drivers equal opportunity, Alonso is unhappy and finds himself on the backfoot and backed into a corner.

The Spaniard is having to fend off the Ferrari drivers as well as a consistent, racecraft-savvy and win-hungry team mate every race weekend. The rookie has already drawn blood, in a team where the boss has made it clear that Alonso's antics aren't earning the Spanish driver any sympathy. What it boils down to is that Alonso absolutely must win this year. Especially since he's got a point to prove if he's going to break his contract and leave McLaren at the end of the season.

WINS: 3
PODIUMS: 5
POINTS: 79
TITLE HOPES:

Lewis Hamilton
McLaren protege, karting champion and at just 22, Lewis Hamilton is a genuine sensation. Not intimidated by his world champ team mate, or the unending media coverage, Hamilton has put his head down and nailed the McLaren to the podium race after race. He secured a third place on his debut at Australia, followed that up with two second places in Bahrain and Spain, and in this kind of form, he surpassed Bruce McLaren as the youngest driver ever to lead the F1 championship.

Canada would see Hamilton demolish the opposition when he started from pole and won emphatically. This kind of consistent driving was making Alonso insecure and controversy surrounded McLaren's stand on team orders. None of which, it appears, affected Hamilton in the least. The young Brit was hungry for wins, and it was never more evident than in Hungary.

Hamilton would have had the championship in the bag by now were it not for his ninth place at the Nurburgring that let the other three drivers close the gap. Ten podiums off 12 races, three wins and five points ahead of the nearest championship contender, this rookie is on his way to winning the F1 crown. We're rooting for the rookie this year. And it would be foolish not to.

WINS: 4
PODIUMS: 10
POINTS: 85
TITLE HOPES:

Felipe Massa
Tired of being second best, Felipe Massa was ready to take the helm at Ferrari. Quick, aggressive and learning the ropes from Michael Schumacher, Massa was the only driver amongst the top four who wasn't sitting in a new seat for the 2007 season.

That means he has the advantage of being most familiar with his car. His winter testing sessions saw him post the quickest times in four out of five circuits but his season, miserably, started with a bang. A gearbox problem in Australia and mechanical gremlins in Malaysia saw Massa lose out to the McLarens. But the brash Brazilian wouldn't give up.

Hobbled by misfortune, a black flag and a relatively unreliable car, Massa still managed to stay within fighting distance of the McLarens. With five races to go and only 15 points behind, Massa's determination to win isn't waning but his luck is running low as his rivals pile up the points. And what of his team mate? Massa has nothing to worry about, the Iceman seems to out-do himself.

WINS: 3
PODIUMS: 4
POINTS: 69
TITLE HOPES:

Kimi Raikkonen
Kimi signing with Ferrari made him the highest paid driver in Formula 1. What it didn't get him was the 'Schumacher replacement' tag. So although Ferrari were impressed with the pace that the flying Finn exhibited, they weren't tagging him yet. Raikkonen didn't disappoint though when he became the first driver in 18 years to secure pole position on his race debut with Ferrari. He went on to win, and even record the fastest lap.

But as the season continued Raikkonen's pace seemed to fade as he was passed cleanly by the McLarens on more than two occasions. Ferrari's unreliability did not help him either. The Finn is still finding it hard to find his usual form and pace, the sort of the sparkling performance he's known for has been hard to come by. His chances of winning the title are as slim as, er..., Nicole Ritchie.

WINS: 3
PODIUMS: 4
POINTS: 68
TITLE HOPES: