For those who believe in Karma, the next 12 months in Formula 1 should make for fascinating viewing. McLaren and Red Bull both face a reckoning in 2018 that could have serious ramifications for their respective futures, and their respective reputations as two of grand prix racing's powerhouse teams.
Those reputations are hard won and easily lost. McLaren's has been slowly eroded by almost five full seasons of chronic underachievement, while Red Bull has gradually lost the aura of dominance it enjoyed in the latter part of F1's V8 era, before V6 hybrid turbos ruined everything.
Now the fates of these two proud and successful entities are intertwined - united by their mutual dissatisfaction with their present engine partners. They both put such a brave face on things to begin with, until slowly but surely the vitriol spilled forth into the public domain. Both said it wouldn't, until frustrated competitive instinct took over.