How a rubber tube could decide a title
The depth and thoroughness of a grand prix team's preparation matter not a jot when the fates conspire and misfortune strikes, as JONATHAN NOBLE explains.
However deep Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have to dig to outdo each other on track, there's one factor that neither can have any influence over in their title battle: Lady Luck's shining light.
You can argue all you want about there being no luck in motor racing - that diligence is the mother of good fortune - but in sport sometimes you simply get dealt a bad card.
Share Or Save This Story
Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.
More from Jonathan Noble
Shanghai F1 grass fire mystery remains; emergency team on standby
F1 teams and Pirelli had no warning of “painted” Shanghai track surface
FIA still chasing answers over bizarre Shanghai F1 grass fires
Audi a player, not a spectator, in F1 driver market - Sauber
Mercedes joins Williams and RB with 'quick and cheap' F1 cockpit airflow upgrades
Alpine gets F1 spare car for first time in 2024 as lighter chassis appears in China
Russell: Mercedes locked in F1 "battle of fine margins"
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
Latest news
Shanghai F1 grass fire mystery remains; emergency team on standby
Live: F1 Chinese GP updates – Sprint Race & Qualifying
The Haas F1 updates that have bucked a sprint race trend
Long Beach IMSA: Derani takes pole for Cadillac by 0.009s, then wrecks
Autosport Plus
The short-term pain that hides a very real Williams improvement
How a Shanghai to Sheffield journey paved the way for China’s F1 hero
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.