For much of this Formula 1 season the focus has been on Lewis Hamilton, the reliability problems his Mercedes has suffered, and his valiant efforts to fight back from the early deficit in the title battle those problems gave him.
Hamilton was slowly but surely getting the job done, so that attention was warranted. This F1 season was shaping up to be a real comeback story for the reigning world champion; a journey of redemption against difficult odds.
Then Malaysia happened. Hamilton had that race in the bag. He was about to reclaim the championship lead. Then the big-end bearing in his Mercedes engine's crankshaft failed, and his engine blew up catastrophically and inexplicably. Twenty-five points down the drain. His championship charge halted - by pure, dumb bad luck.