Winning May Be Everything But Persevering Also Counts...

In Formula One, only the best get applauded while the rest take the consolation prize. However, if you haven't been totally exposed to the British media (AKA: The Hamilton Channel or THC), you'd know that there were 19 other drivers out on the track and here is a little time to the drivers that tried, tried and tried some more, but just couldn't cut it when it came to what matters most: the points, the podium and the champagne.

Kazuki Nakajima

Young Kaz received his full time drive with the Williams F1 team this year and he tried right from the get-go in Australia. Riddled with rookie errors, being off pace during qualifying and getting involved in first corner tiffs, he has much to learn. However, he has persevered and is learning bit by bit with his teammate, and part-time Leonardo DiCaprio look-alike/body double, Nico Rosberg.

Indeed, Kaz has to keep going. He does make a good sidekick to Nico, but if he wants to be his own man and driver, he'll have to pull up his racing overalls and keep that steering wheel tight on the car.

Timo Glock

Lewis Hamilton's newest best friend and Felipe Massa's worst enemy right now has had an interesting season of thrills and spills.

After an amazing crash in Australia which left plenty of small pieces of carbon fibre and a cockpit, Timo has been moving up which culminated with a second place finish at the Hungaroring after staving off Ferrari man, Kimi Raikkonen, for the final laps.

Of course, the season wasn't all champagne and celebration for the young German rookie. He experienced the worst of collisions during the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim where he had to be taken away in a stretcher.

Scary moment, but after coming back with a podium in the next race, there has to be an award for him when it came to persevering.

Giancarlo Fisichella

Force India's experienced F1 veteran seemed to have mistaken "Force India" with "Indian Air Force" after a most unusual crash in Turkey in which the Williams-Toyota of Kazuki Nakajima was used as a launch pad to send Fisichella flying into race retirement.

The veteran Roman was added to Force India this year because of his winning experience and other things that he can bring to this new team. I would also suspect that a knack for winning in the strangest ways was also a deciding factor, (think 2003 Brazilian GP).

Of course, with strategy, he was able to work his way up, but never able to score a point. The high point for him this season came in the final round when midway through the Grand Prix, he was in the heat of the McLaren/Ferrari battle and could have been a deciding factor, but he lost his cool and was soon relegated to the back.

For not being able to score but giving 110% every time he went out there is a feat in and of itself.

Adrian Sutil

What can I say here?

Adrian is by far the most likeable back-marker of this writer. He is a talented driver with a slow car. He tries his best every time but is overshadowed by another driver in a silver race car, and a red car, and a blue and white car, and a yellow and orange car, and well, you get where I'm going with this, right?

Still, Sutil has had some impressive drives including a drive up to fourth place at the Monaco Grand Prix had a Ferrari behind him - that's right, behind - not hit a wet patch and give the old rear admiral-ship to the German.

Although, for all intents and purposes, Sutil would have received a 25 second penalty for passing under yellow flag conditions if he wasn't rear-ended, but it was nonetheless a stellar and mature drive from the young maestro.

Sutil deserves to be mentioned because so far to date, he has scored for his team one point in the 2007 campaign at the soaked out Japanese Grand Prix of that year.

The season has been filled with ups and downs, and I thought that mentioning some of the lesser mentioned fellows is a great way to close the season in a way that's not just about Lewis Hamilton or the other front runners.