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When team-mates are in the title fight

Jonathan Noble examines the problems a Formula 1 team faces when its two drivers are in competition with each other for the world championship

As a team you always claimed that you treated both drivers equally. But, as everyone (including George Orwell and perhaps the men in the cockpit too) suspected, one driver was always treated a bit more equally than the other.

So why did it have to come to this?

It had all been so easy at the start of the year. The de facto number one was setting the pace and getting the early success, and it was not really a problem. When the man who thinks he is the number one - and whose success keeps all parts of the team happy - is winning, what is there to complain about?

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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.