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Why McLaren's risks have been rewarded

Taking risks is part of the game at all levels in Formula 1. But as Jonathan Noble explains, Martin Whitmarsh's decision to ditch McLaren's 'octopus' exhaust system so close to the start of the season was not just correct but also a brave gamble

Jonathan Noble Apr 12, 2011, 7:03 PM

Formula 1 is a sport where success and failure are defined by risk. For drivers, if you are not living on that outer zone of adhesion, the precipice where your car is on the very edge of its performance envelope, then there will be no success. Going to the extremes, though, is not without its obvious dangers.

Yet juggling the risk with the reward is something that is not just the domain of drivers. For team bosses, technical chiefs and engineers, there is a constant battle between ensuring that what you deliver for the men in the cockpit is not going to be a flop.

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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.