Why F1’s secret rulebook is causing angst among the ranks

With competition on the track increasing as the 2021 Formula 1 season intensifies, any possible advantage is being aggressively fought over. This includes off the track, as F1's rules and regulations come under scrutiny which, for multiple reasons, is causing unease up and down the grid

Jonathan Noble Jul 1, 2021, 9:33 AM

Upd: Jul 4, 2021, 11:21 AM

Formula 1's title battle between Mercedes and Red Bull has been as intense and hard-fought off the track as it has been on it.

While Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have been battling it out wheel-to-wheel on circuit, behind-the-scenes there have been political scuffles that have played their part in the contest too.

Share Or Save This Story

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.

Jonathan has won multiple awards for journalism - in 1991 he was the winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Sir William Lyons’ Award for young journalists, in 2010 he was awarded the Outstanding Individual accolade for consumer journalism in the Haymarket wards, in 2011 he won Haymarket’s Scoop of the Year, and in 2018 he was awarded a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for his contribution to F1 journalism.