STR finished just two spots behind its big brother in the constructors' championship, albeit some 16 points adrift, at the end of a campaign characterised most markedly by a very public falling out between Scott Speed and team principal Franz Tost that allegedly culminated in the pair coming to blows after both the American and team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi skidded out of the rain-lashed European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring within two laps of the lights going out. Speed later spoke out about what he saw as the team having no faith in its drivers, a situation seemingly confirmed by his immediate release from his contract and Liuzzi too being shown the door at season's end.

Speed was replaced by Vettel, who stunned the grand prix fraternity in his sixth grand prix – he had already made his F1 debut for BMW-Sauber in place of the recovering Kubica at Indianapolis, impressively scoring a point on his maiden appearance – by running up in third position in the rain at Fuji, before being caught out by the concertina effect under the safety car and clattering into the back of Webber's second-placed Red Bull machine, removing both from the equation in one fell swoop. He went some way to atoning for that with a superb fourth spot next time out in China, and much will clearly be expected of both the young German and new team-mate, four-time Champ Car king Sébastien Bourdais, in 2008.

Behind STR – and a team that amazingly had not registered even so much as a single point up until the French Grand Prix in July – was Honda, who suffered quite possibly the most downbeat year in the company's entire and illustrious F1 history with its earth-themed car, saved only by spirited performances from Jenson Button at Magny-Cours, Monza and Shanghai. Having scored his breakthrough grand prix victory the previous season in Budapest, the Briton had expected much, much more from 2007, but to his great credit he never gave up fighting, no matter how desperate or depressing the situation became.

That the 27-year-old scored all of the team's points in the constructors' standings speaks volumes for the way he handled matters in 2007. For the first time in his 15-year F1 career meanwhile, team-mate Rubens Barrichello failed to trouble the scorers at all, an unenviable statistic the Brazilian will clearly be aiming not to repeat in 2008 – a year some predict will be the 35-year-old's swansong in the uppermost echelon – when he and Button hope to return to the front of the grid where they both irrefutably belong.

Indeed, up until the penultimate outing, Honda lay behind Super Aguri in the points' rankings, as the Leafield-based outfit campaigned the Japanese manufacturer's 2006 car. If it was an embarrassing season for the latter, the former by contrast shone in the early races, with Takuma Sato grabbing the final point in Spain before enticing the Canadian crowd onto its feet in Montreal as he sensationally battled his way past both Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso in the race's closing stages en route to sixth position at the chequered flag. Though no further points would come Super Aguri's way over the remainder of the year, both Sato and team-mate Anthony Davidson – having finally received his big break following no fewer than five seasons of acting as a test-driver for BAR/Honda – impressed with their gutsy performances all the way to the end.

Bringing up the rear, finally, was Spyker – now Force India – for whom rookie Adrian Sutil registered the sole point in Fuji, after keeping his head when so many others had lost theirs. The young German – a former team-mate of Lewis Hamilton's in the F3 Euroseries – had a strong maiden year in the top flight, and will clearly be a man to keep an eye on in the future. He comfortably saw off the challenge of the more experienced Christijan Albers, who parted company with the Silverstone-based concern following a poor start to the season and a calamitous French Grand Prix in which he drove out of the pit-lane with the refuelling hose still attached to his car.

Markus Winkelhock enjoyed his moment in the sun – or rather rain – by leading the European Grand Prix in front of his home fans and on his F1 debut – and with Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya having now taken over the reins and Giancarlo Fisichella rumoured to be joining Sutil on the driving front in 2008, it will be interesting to see just how much progress Force India can make next year, as the squad seeks to leap away from the back of the grid.

F1 2008 is just around the corner – don't go away!