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MPH: Mark Hughes on...

Was it the hand of the almighty that guided Lewis Hamilton through the Rivage gravel trap at Spa? Or does simply having faith make a driver quicker?

Stephen Hawking has recently claimed there is no need to invoke God to explain the creation of the universe. So, who was it that had his hand over Lewis Hamilton as he skated through the gravel trap at Rivage in the Belgian Grand Prix but came out the other side, still in the lead? Lewis says it was 'The Lord'.

The belief in a divine being is in many ways a comfortable one for a racing driver to hold. It allows for a certain level of fatalism; a 'what will be, will be' attitude that might allow him to be bolder than he otherwise might if he was taking full responsibility for outcomes. You'd surely need to believe it deeply though, with every grain of your being, to enable that; to simply adopt a belief in God as an aid to making you a more effective racing driver would surely not work. The faith would need to come before, or at least be bigger, than the will to be a racing driver.