Tony Dodgins - Formula One: The Rivals: F1s Greatest Duels

Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton (44) and Nico Rosberg fight into the uphill first turn of the 2015 US GP at Circuit Of The Americas, Austin, Texas.

I think it was Michael Jordan who said it: Ive failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

Its the thing about sports people that should not be underestimated. A consummate, elegant performer like a Roger Federer can make it look easy. But its not. Hard work will always trump talent that doesnt work hard.

In motor racing, thats especially true. My partner Ann and I know that only too well. The driving is only part of it and there are many more downs than ups. Thats why I called my autobiography Aussie Grit: My Formula One Journey.

Journey is what it is, and there are no guarantees that you will reach your personal destination. If you are fortunate enough to reach the pinnacle, Formula 1, and get your backside into a car capable of winning races and championships, the stakes are raised tenfold. There is always a talented individual in the other car.

Rivalries are the lifeblood of all sport. As a teenager, I was absorbed by the Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost McLaren days. Its true what they say: the expression teammate is a misnomer. You can have healthy rivalries with drivers from other teams. At Red Bull, I had great fights with World Champions like Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, Jenson Button at Brawn, and Fernando Alonso, then driving for Ferrari. But its the guy on the other side of the garage, in my case Sebastian Vettel, who you are ultimately measured against. He can be more mortal enemy than mate. Hes the one whose times you first look for, whose set-up you want to understand.

Formula 1 can be a brutal environment. Its a team sport, yes, but its you individually being measured against the stopwatch every couple of weeks, with no place to hide.

In my early F1 days I had some great highlights, such as finishing fifth in Paul Stoddarts Minardi at my home grand prix in 2002, scoring the teams first points. And achieving Jaguars only front row start at Malaysia in 2004. But it took me seven years to get myself into a car that allowed me to aim for the top step of the podium and to truly understand rivalry.

As luck would have it, I broke my leg just as it happened, but I became an F1 winner at Nurburgring in 2009. By 2010, I really felt ready to challenge for the championship. I was so stoked by my first win that year, in Barcelona, that I threw my helmet into the crowd! Seb and I are fine now, but we certainly had our moments that year. There was Turkey, and Silverstone, but also some of my greatest memories, like winning Monaco and that infamous British Grand Prix. Its like the American gymnast Mary Lou Retton said: A trophy carries dust, but memories last forever.

Im a big believer in that, and my hope is that memories of some of the greatest rivalries in our sport which I feel privileged to be part of will be rekindled by the words and glorious pictures in this book.

Performing at the very top level of any activity takes immense commitment, dedication and sacrifice.

Its a tough enough challenge for sportsmen to extract the maximum from themselves, especially over a sustained period. But throw in a competitive situation that becomes personal and which can threaten professional shelf life, and its a different level again. Rivalries are the lifeblood of sport. They become defining and enduring. Whether its Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer or Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, great rivalries transcend their sport.

The idea of looking back over F1 history and exploring some of the most memorable, was highly appealing. As a 15-year-old, I was a Niki Lauda fan totally absorbed by the battle with James Hunt for the 1976 World Championship.

Dont ask me why I was a Lauda fan. Maybe it was because he drove for Ferrari and Ferrari road cars were things of beauty that made you stop and stare. Maybe it was because he took 18 pole positions over two years in 19745, so seemed to be the out-and-out quickest. The calculating, consistent, computer-driver tags came further down the road.

Whatever it was, I couldnt care less that James was British. It became completely engrossing: the disqualifications, reinstatements, controversy, Nikis 1976 Nrburgring accident, the recovery, politics, the Fuji showdown, Nikis withdrawal and Jamess 11th-hour success. It was the year that took motor racing from the back pages of newspapers to the front. It was box office from first to last, even if it took another 37 years for the movie makers to get around to it with Rush!

James and Niki got along, and it stayed like that. But sometimes the intensity is just too much. More often than not, animosity creeps in when the rivals are in the same team: Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi; Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell; Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost; Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton; Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg or Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

Its one thing when a race crew is battling a rival team, but quite another when the chief opponent comes from within. Team personnel are split, paranoia sets in, and all occurring amid the tiring, high-pressure environment of a global travelling circus. Its not surprising that those situations can implode spectacularly, none more so than at McLaren in 2007 with Alonso and a first-year Hamilton. That year itself deserves its own book!

In the beginning, motor racing was populated by well-heeled gentleman racers. Stirling Moss is widely regarded as the first professional racing driver, which attracted some derisory comment from Mike Hawthorn, his rival for the 1958 World Championship. But the spirit of sportsmanship was still well to the fore, even if anyone tasked with overtaking Nino Farina might have disagreed...

Mosss actions in supporting Hawthorn against a disqualification at the end of 1958 helped ensure that Stirling would go down in history as the best driver never to win a World Championship, even if Moss himself blames the misinterpretation of a pit signal and his own failure to chase a fastest lap point. Id like to think that such sportsmanship still exists, and the Hamilton family made a good show of it, congratulating Max Verstappen in the aftermath of the controversial Abu Dhabi race in 2021.

Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna lead the pack in the 1989 San Marino Grand Prix.