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Behind the scenes of Red Bull's mission control

Regular viewers of Formula 1 will know that trying to second-guess in-race strategies can become part of the fun. But just how hectic can grands prix be for those whose job it is to execute the split-second decisions?

What was it that made us all fall in love with grand prix racing in the first place? It's that intoxicating cocktail of being caught in the moment, witnessing the battles on track and off, the personalities, the intrigue, the uncertainty, and that unprecedented intensity of spontaneous emotion when Toto Wolff pounds his fists on the table or Christian Horner's feet jiggle nervously as the denouement approaches.

Unless you work for a team - and that means actually living through the hard work, the stress, and the soaring peaks and crushing troughs of Formula 1 competition - then it's hard to fully comprehend how it can take over your life. Harder still to grasp how all that emotional investment gets wrenched and churned when those red lights go out on Sunday afternoon and everything is decided in two crazy hours.

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Author Jonathan Noble

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.