Mercedes AMG Petronas

In his two previous visits to the Circuit of the Americas, the latest home of the United States Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg failed to even qualify within the top 10.

The German finished bottom of the Q2 time sheets for the 2012 event in 17th, 11 places adrift of his then-Mercedes teammate, Michael Schumacher, who by that time was—approaching his 44th birthday—just two races away from retirement.

It didn't get much better last year either, with Rosberg posting a time that, according to the official Formula One website, was half a second slower than that of Lewis Hamilton, Schumacher's replacement, leaving him stranded in 14th place.  

Those results, his failure to recover from them on race day—he finished a distant 13th in the 2012 US Grand Prix, ninth in 2013—and Hamilton's recent run of form, which has seen the British driver win each of the last four races, suggested that the 2014 event would take only one direction.

Logic dictated that Hamilton—twice a winner on American soil having triumphed in the final race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007 as well as the inaugural event at the Circuit of the Americas—would dash off into the Texan sunset and leave Rosberg to, for the 10th time this year, settle for second.

It seemed as though that would prove to be the case as Hamilton, currently leading his teammate by 17 points in the drivers' standings, out-paced Rosberg in each of the three free practice sessions as well as the first part of qualifying.

Yet the lasting appeal of the 2014 title battle is that logic has rarely applied.

Momentum has been a hot potato. The driver who looks at ease in one session can find himself chasing his tail in the next, while the one who appears to be down and out can produce a weekend-defining lap out of nowhere.

.@nico_rosberg is hurling that car around @circuitamericas! Hes giving it all hes got!! #F1 #USGP

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 1, 2014

And Rosberg was the one to produce that lap at the Austin track, giving an anti-climatic feel to the top-10 shootout by taking provisional pole on his first Q3 run before sealing the deal in the dying embers of the session, ending qualifying with an advantage of four-tenths of a second over Hamilton, as per Formula1.com.

It is the biggest margin between the Mercedes drivers in qualifying since August's Belgian Grand Prix, which according to the official F1 website saw them separated by 0.3 seconds. It carried parallels to the Saturday of last month's Japanese Grand Prix, where Rosberg popped up at the ideal time to nab pole position from his teammate.

"I've got time in my pocket" was an eye-catching line from Rosberg yesterday. And he delivered on that promise. #F1

— Glenn Freeman (@glennfreeman39) November 1, 2014

The German, who will be the first to claim F1's Pole Trophy at the end of the year having out-qualified Hamilton for the 10th time this season, has made a habit of securing pole positions and producing surprising qualifying performances at what would be best described as "Lewis Circuits," which have generally had the effect of unsettling and destabilising the 2008 world champion.

Rosberg's pole in Monaco, where his teammate won with panache six years ago, broke the spell of Hamilton's initial four-race winning streak, with the controversial circumstances surrounding the German's off-track excursion only serving to further disturb the British driver's mentality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUvIJXhYrQc

That was carried into the Canadian Grand Prix at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve—where Hamilton took his first career pole position and victory in 2007, before winning again in 2010 and 2012—with Rosberg benefiting from his teammate's mistake, while the British driver's poor judgement of track conditions at his home race gave the German a free pass to take pole at Silverstone.

A fire in qualifying at the Hungaroring, another favourite of Hamilton's, prevented the British driver from protecting his record from Rosberg. The German was also just 0.007 seconds adrift of his teammate, as per the official F1 website, in qualifying in Singapore, where the 2008 title winner has enjoyed strong results in the past.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpOIP1fTeAQ

The latest in that line at the Circuit of the Americas, where Hamilton won so emphatically for McLaren two years ago, is a timely reminder of Rosberg's ability to match his Mercedes teammate in terms of absolute pace, even at venues that appear to have Hamilton's name written all over them.

The British driver himself admitted that he would have been out-performed by Rosberg even had he not suffered braking problems, telling the post-qualifying FIA press conference, "Nico was perhaps too quick today," while Rosberg told reporters:

Great day, very happy. It worked out really well, you know. Together with my engineers I really arrived at a car in the end in qualifying that I was happy with, the balance was good... It wasn’t that easy to get everything right but in the end we got to a great set-up, a great car, so I’m pleased with that. So first place of course today is awesome but you know the race is what counts, so I still need to focus fully on tomorrow and to bring it home.

Despite his outstanding display in qualifying, doubts remain over whether Rosberg can convert his ninth pole position of the season into a fifth victory.

That was a great team effort today. Starting from pole here is good - but it's tomorrow that counts. #USGP #Austin pic.twitter.com/woU3D8vWnw

— Nico Rosberg (@NicoRosberg) November 1, 2014

Hamilton, in racing conditions, will be difficult to contain over the course of 56 laps, while the German himself has struggled to find the balance between attack and defence—and as a consequence has often found himself in No Man's Land—in the second half of the season as the pressure has increased.

In taking pole position at yet another Lewis Circuit, however, Rosberg has proven that Hamilton—despite his recent form—will not claim the 2014 title without a fight.

At times, Formula One seems to lurch from one self-made mini-controversy to the next, with barely enough space in between to actually hold the races. One week, there is an argument about tyre compounds, the next, it is regarding a clampdown on the use of team radios or the stewards' application of a particular rule.

The latest controversy is over the ban on in-season engine development, with Mercedes and their customer teams trying to hold on to the status quo against the Renault- and Ferrari-powered outfits.

In Russia last weekend, Mercedes won the constructors' championship, largely on the strength of the outstanding hybrid power unit they designed, which has been the class of the field for the 2014 season.

Now, the teams without the benefit of the Merc engine, seeing that they might not be able to close the performance gap to Mercedes by the start of next season, are agitating for a change in the regulations.

As part of the FIA's ongoing attempts to reduce costs in the sport, in-season development of the new hybrid engines is currently banned. Under the new regulations for 2014, each engine manufacturer provided a final version of their power unit to the FIA during the preseason. Changes to improve the performance of the engines are only allowed at the end of each season.

"I would like a certain amount of opportunities a year to work on the engine," said Ferrari team principal Marco Mattiacci in August, per ESPN F1. He continued:

As you very well know we keep discussing about how to improve—if it's needed—every area of the Formula One product. ... But I suppose there are certain areas, the DNA of Formula One is innovating, innovating and catching up with the best one and being as fast as the smartest one. That's what I will keep, as Ferrari, insisting, and one of the areas is engine freezing.

In Russia, according to Autosport's Jonathan Noble, the F1 Strategy Group approved a proposal to allow some engine development during the 2015 season, despite opposition from the Merc-powered teams. However, to actually change the rule, a unanimous vote is needed from the F1 Commission, and Mercedes has a vote in that group, as well.

"In general terms, our philosophy is let's decide on the regulations early enough to have stable regulations," Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff told Autosport's Noble and Dieter Rencken in Sochi. "That is very important for F1—and must not make kneejerk reactions...you don't want to have regulations changing three months before the start of the season."

In the same interview, Wolff also spoke of the increased costs that would come from a loosening of the engine development rules.

Meanwhile, according to BBC Radio correspondent James Allen, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said:

I think it’s a bigger issue than just about the teams. It’s about what’s right for the sport, what’s right for the fans. It’s easy to take a self-interest position, but when you look at what is the right thing for F1, I think it’s to have competition. The rules are the rules, which they are at the moment, but I think we need to be big enough to say let’s open a little bit.

But let's not forget Horner's (and Mattiacci's and Wolff's) real goal: to win. They can speak all they want about competition and cost-savings, but their views on this issue are coloured—as they should be—by what is best for their respective teams.

However, what is best for certain individual teams is not necessarily what is best for the sport.

Mattiacci may be right that innovation is the essence of F1, but is F1 not also about building the fastest car possible within the regulations?

Mercedes have done that, and they have done it much better than Ferrari, Red Bull and everyone else. It is not fair to change the regulations for next season at the last minute, in the hope that there will be more competition at the front of the grid in 2015.

Just because it turns out Chelsea Football Club are better at scoring goals than any other team in the Premier League this season, does that mean their opponents should get a smaller net from now on?

Yes, it would be nice to see more than one team with a realistic hope of winning the championship in 2015, but not at the expense of rules that were established and agreed upon by the teams. If Ferrari, Red Bull and the others want to beat Mercedes, they should be forced to do it through the same hard work and ingenuity that Mercedes put in to reach their current level of dominance, not because they were able to manipulate the rules to their advantage.

It should also be remembered that one of the goals of the new engine regulations was to generate interest among manufacturers not currently involved in F1 and, ultimately, bring new engine builders into the sport.

At a Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) forum in 2011, then-FOTA chairman and McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said, per Chris Medland of ESPN F1:

The automotive manufacturers have, over the history of Formula One, been very significant investors in our sport. And I think we need to provide an environment where the engine rules are sufficiently defined so that people can come into it knowing that if they do a sound and good technological job then they will be competitive.

Honda has already been brought back into the fold, starting next season, but changing the engine regulations now, after just one season, would hurt efforts to entice other manufacturers. Why would any other companies want to join the sport if they thought that no matter how much time and money they put into developing an engine, the rules would be changed the minute they were perceived to have any kind of advantage?

The ban on in-season development of the power units should remain in place next year, and Mercedes should not be penalised for doing too good of a job.

The Silver Arrows will not be on top forever—and remember, it was less than a year ago that people were clamouring for anyone other than Red Bull to win a championship. Now we have that, along with one of the most interesting and exciting F1 seasons of the new millennium.

As the saying goes: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Follow me on Twitter for updates when I publish a new article and for other (mostly) F1-related news and banter:

 @MatthewWalthert

When the W05 cars of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crossed the finish line in Sunday's Russian Grand Prix to take their ninth one-two finish of the 2014 Formula One season, Mercedes were crowned constructors' champions for the first time in their history.

The German manufacturer had raced with considerable success in the mid-1950s—Juan Manuel Fangio, the Argentinian driver, claimed two of his five world titles behind the wheel of the iconic W196 in 1954 and 1955—but the absence of a teams' championship in that period meant the Silver Arrows have had to wait 60 years to get their hands on some silverware.

But when it did arrive, there was a certain inevitability about it.

The 2014 car, in the hands of Hamilton and Rosberg, has been one of the most dominant in the history of F1. It has won all but three of the campaign's 16 races thus far, while it has missed out on pole position on only one occasion.

https://twitter.com/EliGP/status/521283102682124288

And even on the days when it didn't take one of its drivers to the top step of the podium or to the summit of the qualifying time sheets, it was not through a lack of performance, with circumstances such as misfortune, unreliability and, in some cases, human error preventing Mercedes from blowing their opposition—their highly-accomplished opposition—away.

Yet it would be to do the team a disservice to suggest that the W05 is the sole reason behind the Silver Arrows' success when the Brackley-based team have outperformed their peers in every single department, on and off-track, in 2014.

This year's success is the result of an extended period of planning, with BBC Sport's Andrew Benson writing that the team's rise to prominence in 2014 was in the pipeline for "at least three years." 

The huge regulation changes that came into effect across the winter of 2013 were recognised as an opportunity, the opportunity, for the three-pointed star to rise as a major force in Formula One, with huge effort and resources going into performance quirks such as the revolutionary split turbo design, which was reported by Sky Sports' Pete Gill and Mike Wise earlier this year.

Such a large focus on 2014, though, meant Mercedes were sacrificing short-term pain for long-term gain.

As a result, Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, the man who came out of retirement in the hope of adding to his seven world titles, were left to trundle around with only one race win between them over the course of the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons—with that famine leaving the organisation, as Dr Dieter Zetsche admitted to Sky Sports' Mike Wise at May's Monaco Grand Prix, contemplating their future in the sport.

If there were concerns behind the scenes, however, you would never have sensed it.

The Silver Arrows rigidly and confidently stuck to their plans to the point where, after Hamilton's timely Hungarian Grand Prix win seemed to put the British driver in contention for last year's title, then-team principal Ross Brawn refused to mount a serious challenge against Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel for fear of, as he told ESPN F1, "compromising our 2014 programme."

Well done to Ross Brawn for winning the constructors' championship.

— Ben Hunt (@benjhunt) October 12, 2014

Hamilton, indeed, was the most high-profile signing made by the Brawn-led team across 2012 and 2013, with Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe also arriving from Williams and McLaren respectively as Mercedes embarked upon an aggressive recruitment process, putting the building blocks in place for this year's title challenge. 

Wolff and Lowe's handling of the outfit following Brawn's resignation at the end of last season is a victory for the snazzy new boardroom dynamic in Formula One, which sees the role of team principal effectively shared by a number of people.

The risks attached to this method are clear, with one too many egos leaving a team divided at the top—yet Wolff, the business executive director, and Lowe, his technical equivalent, have along with Niki Lauda, the non-executive chairman, established a working relationship which has seen Mercedes, and F1 itself, come first.

And that approach, above all else, is the defining quality of the Silver Arrows' championship victory.

With the fastest car by a distance sitting in their garage, it would have been all too easy for the team to declare Hamilton, Mercedes' marquee signing, as the lead driver and instruct Rosberg to play the role of the wingman in the hope of securing the title in the most routine, efficient fashion.

Their willingness, however, to allow both drivers to fight on even ground for the world championship has seen Mercedes single-handedly produce one of the most intense title battles in the sport's history, as well as the most exciting races in recent memory.

Even on the occasions when that philosophy was to their own detriment—in Hungary, where Hamilton refused to let Rosberg pass when the German was on a different strategy, and most certainly at Spa, where Rosberg hit the British driver on the second lap—Mercedes have remained true to their values under the belief that it is "the right way to win world championships."

Whether Mercedes remain committed to that ideology when in the coming years the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren-Honda and Williams close the performance gap—as you must assume they will—remains to be seen, but the team has transformed what on paper should have been a relatively dull, lifeless campaign into one of vitality.

In 2014, Mercedes have been servants to Formula One—and the sport has now rewarded the team for it.

Lewis Hamilton, first. Nico Rosberg, second.

It's a result that you could have forecast long before the inaugural Russian Grand Prix and certainly after Saturday's qualifying session, which ended with the former qualifying in pole position ahead of his Mercedes teammate by exactly two-tenths of a second, according to the official Formula One website.

But the result, in this season of twists and turns, only tells half the story.

With his victory at the Sochi Autodrom, Hamilton has equaled his career-best record of four consecutive wins—an achievement only first established at May's Spanish Grand Prix—and has embarked upon a run of blistering form at exactly the right time for his title prospects.

Over the course of those last four races since his retirement from the Belgian Grand Prix in August, the 2008 world champion has transformed a 29-point deficit to Rosberg in the drivers' standings into a 17-point advantage ahead of the final three races.

Such a sudden, drastic swing in momentum, as Hamilton has rediscovered that formidable aura that characterised his first two seasons in F1, has left Rosberg—not helped by his second retirement of the campaign in last month's Singapore Grand Prix—almost indefensible.

The sheer ferocity of Hamilton's form has thrown Rosberg's season-long game plan—applying pressure and dismantling his teammate piece by piece—out the window, leaving the German with no option but to abide by the British driver's rules, and his more direct tactics, as time runs out.

And in a straight fight, of course, Rosberg simply has no answer to Hamilton.

This has now been evident in three of the four grands prix which Hamilton has won, with the German conceding the lead of the Italian Grand Prix to his teammate by locking up and running wide at Monza's first chicane just as a battle for the race victory was beginning to simmer.

At Suzuka a week ago, meanwhile, Hamilton passed the No. 6 car once again for the victory after Rosberg made little effort to defend against an overtaking manoeuvre into the sweeping first turn.  

Yet the most concerning error of all came in the Russian Grand Prix, where Rosberg's hopes of ending his teammate's winning streak ended before they had started as the German outbraked himself into Turn 2, the first braking zone of the Sochi circuit, locking up so heavily that he suffered a flat spot, forcing him to pit for a new set of tyres at the end of the opening lap. 

Rosberg, to his credit, accepted the blame for his error on the day that Mercedes secured the constructors' title, telling Sky Sports' Pete Gill:

It was just a mistake on my side. I just braked too late and that’s it. It was very unnecessary because it was my corner and I should have been in the lead after that. So obviously very disappointed with that.

It was definitely do-able and I just messed up. It was very simple, no explanation. I just braked too late and too hard.

One half of me is extremely disappointed because I messed up, the other half is happy for the team because everyone in the team deserved it so much, the Constructors' Championship is the most important title of the season and so I can smile a bit.

The chief reason why Mercedes have broken Red Bull's run of four straight constructors' crowns is of course the revolutionary W05 car, which enjoys such a significant advantage over the rest of the field that the team can claim a positive result—be it a podium finish or, indeed, a win—from the most precarious of positions.

Hamilton has highlighted this most notably in Austria, Germany and Hungary—where he recovered from poor qualifying results to finish within the top three on race day—and it was left to Rosberg to perform a similar trick in Russia, with the German—after emerging from the pits in 20th position—making a set of medium tyres last 52 of the race's 53 laps, setting his fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap of the grand prix, as per the official F1 website.

Rosberg: "Sorry, guys. That was very unnecessary but thank you for giving me the car to allow me to recover."

— Philip Duncan (@PhilDuncanF1) October 12, 2014

Although Rosberg gained plaudits for retaining a high level of performance in his rubber for the majority of the grand prix, the overriding feeling could only ever be one of regret over what occurred at Turn 2 on the first lap.

Yet it is arguably too obvious and simplistic to describe such a bizarre incident as one which highlighted how the pressures of an intense title battle is affecting Rosberg's judgment.

Ever since he punctured his teammate's rear tyre after a misjudged overtaking manoeuvre at the Les Combes corner on the second lap of the Belgian Grand Prix—the German has seemingly been on a mission to complete a "Hollywood move," a brave pass which would prove to the wider world his credentials as a potential world champion.

The British driver's claim, as per Crash.net, in the aftermath of the Spa-Francorchamps race that Rosberg admitted to hitting him "to prove a point" implied that the 29-year-old carries some insecurities and feels compelled to beat Hamilton at his own game, which perhaps explains why Rosberg fought for the lead in Russia as though his life depended on it.

With his car clearly ahead of Hamilton's in the braking zone and positioned on the inside of the tight right-hander, however, Rosberg needn't have been so aggressive, as Hamilton's chances of regaining the position without exceeding the track limits would have been minimal.

Yet that apparent desperation to be viewed as the hero of the piece, coupled with his inexperience in championship scraps relative to his teammate, proved to be self-defeating, with the German leaving Hamilton to take an unchallenged win on an afternoon that could, had Rosberg stayed on his tail and applied sustainable pressure, have been very different.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVxy4Y5PIjQ

For someone who seemingly always had the long game in mind during the 2014 Formula One season, Rosberg was incredibly short-sighted in the Russian Grand Prix.

And he broke one of the key commandments of motorsports: You cannot win the race at the first corner, but you can most certainly lose it.

After his desperate retirement from the Singapore Grand Prix a fortnight ago, Nico Rosberg's title challenge could have gone one of two ways.

Having witnessed his 22-point lead turn into a three-point deficit in the space of one race, one evening, the German could have allowed himself to become shrouded in self-pity and surrender to Lewis Hamilton, his Mercedes teammate and championship rival.

He could have adopted The Mark Webber Role: accepting that his high-profile teammate possesses more natural talent and believing that he is in a battle he is never going to win, settling into the No. 2 driver position within the team accordingly.

Or he could have rebounded from the disappointment of Singapore—not to mention the errors which cost him two potential victories in the preceding rounds in Belgium and Italy—to return to the pace immediately, eradicate those silly mistakes and challenge Hamilton in a straight fight.

In Suzuka, Rosberg couldn't have picked a worse place to get his campaign back on track, with the home of the Japanese Grand Prix—as his teammate discovered with a trip to the crash barriers on Saturday morning—needing no invitation to spit cars off the circuit.

Those risks were only enhanced in the horrendously wet conditions of race day, yet—despite finishing second to Hamilton for the sixth time in 15 races this season—there is little doubt that Rosberg's weekend was a success.

The German—after missing out to Hamilton by just 0.007 seconds, as per the official Formula One website, in Singapore—returned to the pole position for the first time since August having strongly challenged the 2008 world champion throughout the hour-long session.

According to Formula1.com, Rosberg finished a mere six hundredths of a second adrift of Hamilton in Q1, before getting the better of his teammate by just over three hundredths in the second part of qualifying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDicaAUx604

He then lived up to his growing reputation as a shrewd operator by extending the gap to two tenths—creating clear daylight between the Mercedes drivers—in the all-important final segment, with Hamilton later telling the post-qualifying FIA press conference that his rebuilt car after his practice accident "didn't get in the way of the result."

Returning to the front of the grid was one thing, but reaching the top step of the podium for the first time since July's German Grand Prix was always bound to be quite another, especially in the hazardous weather conditions produced by Typhoon Phanfone. Hamilton, a driver who often excels in the rain, sat alongside Rosberg on the front row.

The German, then, faced quite a dilemma as the grand prix—after several laps behind the safety car and a brief red flag stoppage—got fully underway on Lap 10.

Would he attempt to fight fire with fire for the race win, risking an accident to the one which, in hindsight, ended the 2010 title hopes of Webber, who crashed out of the Korean Grand Prix in his attempts to catch Sebastian Vettel?

Or would he let Hamilton scamper off into the distance, settling for second and gaining points for the team in a race which any handbags between the Mercedes drivers would soon leave the Silver Arrows vulnerable to the chasing Red Bulls?

In the event, he settled for a compromise.

Rosberg maintained his lead and, perhaps more significantly, kept his driving clean throughout the early stages of the race while Hamilton, close behind, found himself running wide at the first corner on Lap 27, one lap after—as per the FIA television feed—the German began to complain about his car's tendency to oversteer on intermediate tyres.

The move of the race? Lewis Hamilton snatches the lead from @MercedesAMGF1 team mate Nico Rosberg #JapaneseGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/3LosaF9Z4B

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 5, 2014

There was, like in Italy two races ago, a sense that a change of lead was inevitable, with Hamilton soon finding his way past at Turn 1 on Lap 29.

Although the fashion of Rosberg's relinquishing of first place could be interpreted as weak, the German's decision to position his car firmly on the inside of the medium-speed right-hander, therefore compromising his own entry to the corner, was—as Martin Brundle, the former grand prix driver, pointed out during Sky Sports' television coverage of the event—more likely due to a lack of visibility in the mist and rain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP4SIEZM_Jc

This credibility of this theory, indeed, was enhanced with the view from Hamilton's onboard camera, with the No. 44 car engulfed in spray as the British driver sat in Rosberg's tow while he lined up the decisive pass.

Even if Rosberg had made the manoeuvre a little easier than it perhaps should have been for Hamilton, however, who could blame him?

The Japanese Grand Prix was, after his alarming drop in form and bad luck since Hockenheim, never about getting his fifth win of the season on the board—it was about getting back in the groove and rediscovering his confidence with an error-free, assured performance.

As F1 journalist Peter Windsor suggested on The Racer's Edge YouTube channel, there will be several opportunities in the the last four grands prix—in Russia, the United States, Brazil and the double points finale in Abu Dhabi—for the German to switch to attack mode as he attempts to secure his first world championship.

Rosberg may trail Hamilton in the drivers' standings by 10 points—three points more than the difference between first and second place in a given race—but the title battle has now been fully reset, with two drivers at the peak of their powers set to contest the run to the line.

Game on.

"We don't want to have the spin that the championship was decided because one car let the driver down," said Toto Wolff, the boss of Mercedes' motor racing activities, to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson after last month's Singapore Grand Prix. 

The Austrian was speaking with mixed feelings having just witnessed Lewis Hamilton take an ultimately comfortable victory—his seventh of the year—at the Marina Bay street circuit in a race which began with the retirement of Nico Rosberg, who started the day as the world championship leader but ended it as the chaser through no fault of his own.

It seems odd that a team that has won 11 of this season's 14 races thus far should be so beset with worry, yet that is the price Mercedes have paid for having the fastest car on the grid but also one of the most brittle.

The worst-case scenario for the Silver Arrows is that the destiny of the drivers' title will be decided by luck and reliability.

And it would be particularly cruel on the team—not to mention their drivers—if that were to be the case, with Mercedes playing an instrumental role in producing one of the most compelling, intense Formula One seasons in recent memory by openly promoting equality and hard, fair competition between Hamilton and Rosberg. 

But whoever finishes second in the standings when the final chequered flag of the campaign falls in next month's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will—even with five races still to go—have few problems identifying the key moments which prevented them from claiming the crown. 

The general consensus is that had reliability not been an issue in 2014, Hamilton would already have one hand on the title.

A hypothetical drivers' championship produced by The Telegraph's Daniel Johnson, however, attempted to dispel the myth, with the writer's race-by-race estimations resulting in the British driver enjoying a five-point advantage over Rosberg, rather than the three-point gap he holds over the German in reality.

I've made some mistakes but also had some bad luck in Championship race http://t.co/BlX50mQlX1 pic.twitter.com/M9LPZEz4LO

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) July 25, 2014

Hamilton has, nevertheless, endured a great deal of bad luck since the beginning of the season, instantly falling 25 points behind Rosberg after retiring from pole position in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

His career-best run of four consecutive wins in the Malaysian, Bahrain, Chinese and Spanish grands prix—the only events which have been contested on truly even ground between the Mercedes pair this year—allowed him to take seven points per race out of the German's early lead, fuelling the belief that Hamilton would have been long gone had luck not intervened.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq9KXqf7kbY

The 2008 world champion's problems between Spain and Italy—from unforced errors, brake failures and fires in qualifying sessions to bad starts and contact with other drivers, including Rosberg—have been well-documented, but much less has been made of the effect that bad luck has had on the opposite side of the garage.

And while it is true that Rosberg has suffered fewer niggles than Hamilton over the course of the opening 14 races—despite the post-Singapore claim of Paddy Lowe, Mercedes' technical executive director, to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson that it was "reasonably even in terms of how we've let them down"—the German's difficulties have a habit of occurring at the worst possible moments: just as he has looked like escaping from his rivals' clutches.

Hamilton's retirement from the Canadian Grand Prix with a brake issue due to an overheating MGU-K, as Wolff confirmed to F1 journalist Adam Cooper, was a problem shared by Rosberg, who succeeded in managing the problem for around half the race to eventually finish second behind Daniel Ricciardo.

Although he was considered fortunate to even reach the finish line at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, he was unlucky to miss out on victory after holding on to the lead until the final two laps, missing out on seven points that all these months later would have proven to be valuable.

Two rounds later at Silverstone, Rosberg was nursing a 29-point advantage over Hamilton in the standings and seemingly on course for his second successive victory—after winning in Austria—when a gearbox problem forced the German to retire from the lead.

The British driver, who was gaining on Rosberg at the time of his teammate's halt, inherited the win and, more significantly, cut the gap to just four points in a single race.

In Hungary, meanwhile, Rosberg led the field by a comfortable margin of over 10 seconds, as per the FIA television feed, at the time of the deployment of the safety car for Marcus Ericsson's crash—which in hindsight proved to be the turning point in this game of luck—reeling the German into the midst of the chasing pack.

Unable to recover on a tight and twisty track, he went on to finish fourth, one place behind Hamilton, who despite starting from the rear of the field, did benefit from the neutralising effect of the safety car and took three points out of Rosberg.

The German regained a 29-point lead after Hamilton's retirement in Belgium, but his gifting of the win to his teammate in Italy before those miserable 13 laps in Singapore after, according to the official F1 website, qualifying just seven thousandths adrift of the No. 44 car the previous day, left him unable to capitalize once more.

Much has been made of Hamilton's struggles with bad luck and reliability this season, and while it may be true that the British driver might have more than 241 points on the board if his car had been bullet-proof, it could be argued that Rosberg would have more than 238 points to his name if he were immune to bad luck.

So which Mercedes driver has had worse luck this season?

Well, that depends on what you deem to be more costly: the sheer regularity of misfortune or the significance of the moments when it occurs.

For the first 10 and a bit races of the 2014 Formula One season, things couldn't have gone better for Nico Rosberg.

The German kicked off the campaign with a dominant win in Australia, before hanging onto the coattails of Lewis Hamilton, his world championship rival, throughout the British driver's career-best winning streak of four races between the Malaysian and Spanish grands prix.

Although he showed slight signs of strain during his Mercedes teammate's winning run, Rosberg regained the initiative in qualifying in Monaco, which sparked a streak of his own: four podium finishes—including three wins—over the next five grands prix.

The last of which, in Hockenheim, was his first victory on home soil and completed a perfect week for the 29-year-old which included Germany's win over Argentina in the FIFA World Cup final, the confirmation of a new long-term contract with Mercedes and his marriage to his long-term girlfriend.

We are over the Moon. It was very special to share our wedding day with our closest friends and family. pic.twitter.com/kLYTkq179y

— Nico Rosberg (@NicoRosberg) July 11, 2014

Life, at that point, was pretty good for Rosberg, who left the German Grand Prix with a 14-point advantage over Hamilton in the drivers' championship.

The feel-good factor was carried into the next round, the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Rosberg set another comfortable pole position before marching into the distance, seemingly on his way to yet another comfortable win.

And then the safety car came out.

Since then, the campaign has never quite been the same for Rosberg.

He was visibly and audibly upset by Hamilton's refusal of Mercedes instructions to let the recovering German through at the Hungaroring.

Despite a month away from the action—in the form of the traditional summer break—presenting an opportunity for Rosberg to flush away any ill-feeling, he returned to the paddock at Spa with the persona of an angry young man, making the mistake of hitting Hamilton at Les Combes before—according to his teammate's comments passed on by Crash.net—admitting that he did it "to prove a point."

His hostile reception on the podium in Belgium appeared to unsettle Rosberg more than any other driver to have been targeted by the boo-boys in recent years, while his mistake at Monza gifted the race win to Hamilton, freeing the 2008 world champion to begin the process of eroding the German's 29-point advantage.

Those tiny errors, niggles and frustrations endured by Rosberg since Hungary all appeared to be building up to a much more significant, instantaneous blow to his title hopes, which made his retirement from Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix after 13 gloomy laps seem eerily predictable.

A "steering column wiring loom failure" was, according to Mercedes' official website, at the root of Rosberg's problem, which forced the German to give up his grid slot of second place and start from the pit lane before driving, as he told the same source, with "no radio, no DRS and reduced Hybrid power" as well as contending with double up-shifts.

The decision to wheel the No. 6 car into the garage at what would have been his first pit stop of the evening, along with Hamilton's seventh victory of the season, leaves Rosberg trailing his teammate by three points with just five races remaining.

And although the difference between first and second place in a given race is worth seven points—with a Rosberg victory in the next round at Suzuka enough to see the German return to the top of the drivers' standings—it is difficult to imagine how the German will break this miserable run of hiccups and bounce back.

As a methodical driver, leading the world championship suited Rosberg perfectly, allowing him to pre-determine a tactical plan ahead of a race weekend and doing whatever he needed to do against the backdrop of the numbers game. 

Trailing Hamilton—who told Sky Sports' Pete Gill that he will maintain the attitude of a chaser—however, has left with the German with no option but to act as the aggressor.

Simply put, the Singapore Grand Prix and its resetting effect on the title battle has dragged Rosberg into a situation that he has always tried his utmost to avoid: a straight fight.

And with Hamilton almost certainly the faster driver of the pair, Rosberg will have to operate at a level of performance that he has arguably only ever hinted at reaching if he is to wrestle the championship from his teammate.

That is, of course, before you consider any lasting psychological effects of not only the events of the Singapore Grand Prix but those of the last four races.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sQkz0pnQYE

It might not have gone unnoticed that the last driver to take on Hamilton in a head-to-head scrap, Felipe Massa, found the wheels beginning to come off the wagon of his title challenge in Hungary—where he retired from the lead with three laps remaining—before disaster struck in Singapore, where the Brazilian pulled away from his pit box with the fuel hose still attached.

One of my favorite scenes of the Singapore weekend: Vivian trying to comfort @nico_rosberg after his DNF pic.twitter.com/oHxG6lwqAB

— Nicola Pohl (@NicolaBILD) September 22, 2014

Rosberg's immediate reaction to his retirement—standing motionless in the Mercedes garage while staring at a television screen with his helmet still on, as if oblivious to all around him—was akin to the behaviour of Fernando Alonso in parc ferme following the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, with the Spaniard looking emptily into the distance, almost in an attempt to digest and come to terms with his defeat to Sebastian Vettel.

Even though Rosberg might not rebound from his retirement, that is not to suggest that he cannot go on to win the world championship from here.

If anything positive was to be taken from his Sunday in Singapore, though, it was that Mercedes' reliability problems remain alive and well.

And given the topsy-turvy nature of the 2014 campaign, it would not be surprising if the title battle took at least one more twist and one more turn before the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 23.

Nevertheless, Rosberg will now be approaching the final five grands prix with more hope than expectation.

"Luck does not come into it," was the title of the official season-review DVD of the 2008 Formula One season, the campaign which saw Lewis Hamilton claim his only world championship to date.

It refers, of course, to the final few laps of that year's Brazilian Grand Prix, when the British driver, then of McLaren, went from a comfortable title-taking position to the verge of disaster, then back again to ultimately win the title by one point ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Almost six years later, that rainy afternoon at the Interlagos circuit remains the defining day of his career, not only because he ended it with the crown on his head but due to the fact that it sums Hamilton up to an absolute tee.

The 29-year-old has, ever since he burst onto the scene at just 22 in 2007, had a reputation for doing things the hard way, whether from self-inflicted obstacles or whether external factors conspire against him.

He is a three- or four-time world champion trapped in the career of a one-title wonder, with luck—more often than not—at the root of his failure to scoop more accolades.

Even in 2014, a season which marks his best shot at the championship since 2008, luck has tried its best to undermine his efforts behind the wheel.

Hamilton has arguably been the faster, classier driver in his inter-team and title fight with Nico Rosberg, his Mercedes teammate, this year—but has all too often been let down by misfortune and unreliability, which have haunted him since the very start of the season.

The No. 44 Mercedes retired just two laps into the season-opening Australian Grand Prix—just 24 hours after setting an assured pole position—with an engine problem.  

Hamilton was denied one last shot at pole position in the Monaco Grand Prix after Rosberg's infamous off-track adventure led to the deployment of yellow flags, while a vision problem the following day prevented him from hounding his stablemate to the chequered flag.

A slight lock-up in the latter stages of qualifying in Canada saw him miss out on another pole, with two mistake-riddled laps in Austria leaving him ninth on the grid.

An innocent misjudgment of conditions proved costly at Silverstone, where he started sixth on the grid, with a brake failure on the Saturday of the German Grand Prix resulting in a trip to the wall.

Hamilton's car burst into flames at the start of qualifying in Hungary, with another brake issue leaving him settling for second on the grid at Spa, where he was forced to retire after being tapped by Rosberg on the second lap of the grand prix.

The beauty about luck—both good and bad—however, is that it runs out eventually.

And since Hamilton dropped from first to fourth off the line at the start of the Italian Grand Prix a fortnight ago, the gods have done nothing but look favourably upon the British driver.

Rosberg's lock-up at Monza's first chicane was, in hindsight, the turning point in terms of luck for both Mercedes drivers, with Hamilton not only handed the race victory but the momentum in the title race due to the German's mistake in Italy.

And luck bit Rosberg even harder in this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, with the German forced to retire from the race—his second DNF of the season—after just 13 miserable laps having suffered a fundamental electronics glitch, according to the official F1 website.

As a result, that 29-point lead that Rosberg had over Hamilton after the Belgian Grand Prix has, after just 113 laps of motor racing at Monza and Marina Bay, become a three-point deficit with just five grands prix of the season remaining—a reminder, perhaps, of how a change of luck can change the entire complexion of a campaign.

Hamilton's own race in Singapore, however—his seventh win of 2014—had very little to do with luck.

.@LewisHamilton "I still feel like I’m hunting, like I’m chasing – that’s a good feeling."

— Sarah Holt (@sarahholtf1) September 21, 2014

With the dominant yet increasingly brittle Mercedes W05 at his disposal, all he had to do was keep the car out of the walls and try his best to avoid the issues which befell Rosberg to claim the all-important 25 points.

Nevertheless, the style with which he handled—along with Peter Bonnington, his race engineer—the curveball that was the safety car period on Lap 31 was a testament to his ability to handle pressure, something that might have led to his downfall in previous years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caJauqlOJ1A

His ability to stretch his lead over second-placed Sebastian Vettel to 25.2 seconds, according to the official F1 website, by the time of his final pit stop on Lap 52 put the race result beyond any doubt even though Hamilton had to complete the formality of passing the reigning world champion, who was by that stage on old tyres, for the lead on the 54th lap.

Hamilton's regaining of the momentum and the points lead for the first time since May's Spanish Grand Prix—as well as his change of luck—has come at the perfect time.

And it offered a telling message to his peers: You make your own luck in this game.

Formula One's controversial new radio restrictions, designed to prevent teams and drivers from having a mid-race natter, have partially come into effect for this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.

Yet they did not stop Nico Rosberg from venting his disappointment at being beaten by Lewis Hamilton, his Mercedes teammate, to pole position at the Marina Bay track.

"Damn it," was all that the German, according to the FIA television feed, could utter upon learning of his defeat in what must be one of the few team radio messages that remain permitted by the sport's governing body—although one could not have blamed Rosberg if a bleep machine had been required.

Moments such as Hamilton's last-gasp lap time under the floodlights, with just six grands prix of the 2014 season remaining, are the type of instances which can decide the destiny of a world championship.

Trivial circumstances such as a driver starting on the dirty, rather than the clean, side of the starting grid suddenly grow in importance as a campaign approaches its climax, as races run out and as the amount of points to play for continues to shrink.

And Rosberg, who is currently nursing a 22-point lead over Hamilton in the drivers' standings, would have been only further enraged by the margin of the deficit to his Silver Arrows teammate.

Just seven thousandths of a second separated the two Mercedes in #SingaporeGP qualy: http://t.co/qBL1gcChl8 #SkyF1 pic.twitter.com/y3aOvWkmmQ

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 20, 2014

Not the usual tenths of a second. Not the rare hundredths of a second. But thousandths.

Seven thousandths, in fact, according to the official Formula One website, which even in a sport as fast-paced as F1—in which the tiniest of margins can make the biggest of differences—is nothing.

The effects of the frustration of being so near and yet so far to a return to pole position after being convincingly outperformed by Hamilton over the Italian Grand Prix weekend, where Rosberg made an uncharacteristic error, remains to be seen.

Did we mention what 0.007s look like in real terms? Yep, that's right, 33.5 cm. #RadioSinga #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/yH6ZbaFMgm

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 20, 2014

When, however, the contrasting emotions of elation and exasperation subside for both drivers, they—along with the team—will recognise that it could have been much worse.

Mercedes should arguably have been beaten in qualifying.

The German manufacturer was not just rivaled by an in-the-mood Red Bull or a punchy Williams—the only other team to secure a pole position in 2014 courtesy of Felipe Massa in Austria—Ferrari had, rather unexpectedly, joined the club too.

As such, the one-hour session under the night sky of Singapore was not so much a duel as it was a riot, a brawl, a free-for-all.

The pace of Mercedes' peers was reflected in the final classification, with just half a second, as per Formula1.com, separating Hamilton's time from that of Valtteri Bottas, the Williams driver, who was classified in eighth position.

One of the most exciting qualifying sessions I can remember!! #pole #singaporeGP #TeamLH pic.twitter.com/pJYNzb84Z7

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) September 20, 2014

The 2008 world champion admitted his shock at his rivals' pace, telling Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde of Autosport:

The others have taken a step, it is a real, real surprise.

I'm just as surprised to see Ferrari competing on a lap, which is great to see, also Williams and Red Bull.

For racing it is great. That is the most exciting qualifying session I have had for a long time. You have to be spot on and I was almost there.

Although, to their credit, Hamilton and Rosberg eventually got the job done to record Mercedes' seventh front-row lockout of the season, both drivers were arguably their own worst enemies for the majority of the qualifying session.

Rosberg spent the evening flushing any post-Monza mistakes out of his system, ruining his first lap of Q1 by running wide at Turn 8 before locking up at the Turn 13 hairpin on his final effort of Q3 in what proved to be the decisive moment of the session.  

Hamilton, likewise, endured an hour riddled with slight errors—the type that cost him pole positions in Canada, Austria and Belgium earlier this season—and even made a mistake on his pole lap, locking up into the opening corner of the lap.

Such mistakes are common against the backdrop of the world championship, with drivers placing themselves under too much pressure to succeed and ultimately finding themselves operating with fear.

The most recent example occurred in the Brazilian Grand Prix of 2012, a season finale which was billed as a showdown between Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, the two title protagonists.

In reality, however, it proved to be anything but, with Vettel and Alonso qualifying fourth and eighth respectively and being out-qualified by their respective teammates, Mark Webber and Massa.

But while it was human nature for Vettel and Alonso to drive with a certain stiffness in the final race of a season with the title on the line, it is almost unheard of to see drivers seemingly compete with such anxiety with six grands prix still to go.

It is arguably, though, a reflection of the sheer intensity of the battle between Hamilton and Rosberg.

The personal nature of their rivalry, and their struggles to balance a traditionally racing driver-like unwillingness to give an inch—either on-track or psychologically—with a sense of teamwork under the Mercedes banner has presented the duo with a unique challenge.

And with double points on offer in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix—an event shrouded in so much uncertainty—both Silver Arrows drivers will be anxious to place as many fingers as possible on the crown before the final race of the campaign, which would further explain their increased, premature sense of urgency.

Hamilton and Rosberg got away with a relatively average showing in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.

And with the pressures of the title tug of war only set to increase between the Marina Bay race and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and with no shortage of drivers and teams waiting to take advantage of any slip-ups, neither Rosberg nor Hamilton can afford to put a wheel out of line.

The pressure is building.

Not since the days of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost has Formula One seen such a bitter rivalry between two team-mates.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg started the year on good terms. Childhood friends and close neighbours in the principality of Monaco, they had already spent a year as team-mates without any significant issues.

Hamilton even revealed to Formula1.com earlier in the year that he'd been storing his safe in Rosberg's apartment for several months. Though they weren't the best of buddies—no two racing drivers in the same series could be—by F1 standards, they were friends.

But once it became clear the title race was going to be a two-horse Mercedes canter, fears their relationship would not last the distance emerged.

Those fears were realised after only six races.

Small cracks had begun to show. Rosberg used a restricted engine mode to attempt to pass Hamilton in Bahrain, then Hamilton did the same to defend his lead in Spain.

But they were minor incidents, easily forgiven and forgotten, and nothing compared to what was coming next.

During qualifying for May's Monaco Grand Prix, Rosberg had provisional pole from Hamilton by just 0.059 seconds after their opening runs. Both went out for a second run towards the end of the session, Rosberg around 15 seconds up the road from Hamilton.

After a scruffy first sector the German was 0.124 seconds down on his best. Braking a touch later than on his previous lap, he locked up and went straight on down the escape road at Mirabeau.

He then reversed back towards the track.

Yellow flags—which may or may not have been prolonged due to Rosberg's reversing, rather than continuing up the road to park—came out to advise the other drivers of the hazard. They ruined several final qualifying laps, one of them Hamilton's.

Whether the German, knowing he was down on his best time, deliberately caused the yellows to ensure he retained pole, we may never know.

Motorsport magazine's Mark Hughes reports that almost every one of Rosberg's fellow drivers believes it was deliberate, and Hamilton made it clear in The Guardian that he was one of them, saying, “I wish you could have seen the data. I saw something late on last night and all I could do was smile.”

The only people whose opinion matters—the stewards—disagreed.

But whether deliberate or not, the incident (and perhaps, Rosberg's delighted celebration afterwards) infuriated Hamilton and drove a wedge between the two.

The "friendship" was over, and worse was yet to come.

At the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, Rosberg started on pole. Hamilton's car caught fire in qualifying before he'd set a lap, so he ended up starting from the pit lane.

Two safety cars and 31 laps later, the pair were separated by less than two seconds. Rosberg, stuck behind Jean-Eric Vergne, led Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton.

Rosberg pitted and went onto what would turn out to be the better strategy—two stops to the end. Hamilton quickly dispatched Vergne and, while Rosberg was battling through traffic, pulled out enough of a gap to emerge from his own single stop ahead of his team-mate.

On the quicker compound and not having to save the rubber, Rosberg quickly came up behind Hamilton. The team told the Brit to let Rosberg through; he said he would, but only if Rosberg got closer.

He couldn't, and the time lost behind Hamilton probably cost him the race win. He wasn't at all happy, and being edged off the track on the final lap by a defending Hamilton only served to further infuriate the German.

This anger may have affected Rosberg's judgement at the next race at Spa.

At the start of the second lap, going down the Kemmel Straight after Eau Rouge, Rosberg seemed much quicker in a straight line. He pulled out from behind Hamilton and tried to go around the outside into Les Combes.

Hamilton braked late and made the corner on his normal line. Rosberg, on the outside, could see the attempt had failed. He turned the wheel left to straighten the car, then swung right into Hamilton.

His front wing hit Hamilton's rear-left tyre and punctured it, while Rosberg's own front wing was damaged. Hamilton was out of contention entirely, but Rosberg finished second.

Like Monaco, intent is impossible to prove or disprove, but Hamilton thought it was deliberate.

He told a press briefing following a team meeting (h/t Sky Sports):

We’ve just had a meeting and he basically said he did it on purpose. He said he did it on purpose. He said he could have avoided it. He said, ‘I did it to prove a point.’ He basically said ‘I did it to prove a point.' And you don’t have to just rely on me, go and ask Toto [Wolff] or Paddy [Lowe] or those guys, who are not happy with him as well.

Sources inside Mercedes told the Daily Mail his words were "broadly correct."

Rosberg, meanwhile, posted a YouTube video, disagreeing.

The Mercedes PR machine went into overdrive. Team boss Toto Wolff played down Hamilton's comments, and internal disciplinary action was taken against Rosberg.

The result was what the Daily Mail reported as a "six-figure fine." Rosberg admitted responsibility, and apologised to the team and Hamilton on Facebook.

But such gestures can't mask the fact the two drivers are now, in F1 terms, enemies. The warmth and friendship visible at the start of the season have gone, replaced by frosty body language that neither makes any effort to hide.

Even on the Italian Grand Prix podium, happiness was in short supply.

Team-mates at war can push a team forward, but they're far more likely to be a destabilising factor.

Many Mercedes employees, including the management, will favour one over the other. That's what people do, and working for an F1 team does not wipe out a person's humanity.

Providing the division between the two does not widen, such preferences won't make too much of a difference. But if open war breaks out, clear sides will be taken. Mercedes cannot afford that to happen—if it does, one will have to go.

Wolff admitted as much, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live before the race at Monza. He said:

We have made it very clear this is an unacceptable scenario for us, for both of them. We don't want this to happen ever again.

The consequences are very easy. If we are not able to manage the two of them following the Mercedes-Benz racing spirit, then we need to admit that and take decisions and take consequences of having a different line-up probably.

On the evidence of the season so far, they'll never work closely together and will never trust each other again. Too much has happened and neither is likely to forgive or forget.

But the current relationship doesn't seem so bad that one would choose to leave, or that Mercedes would choose for them.

Whether or not it stays that way is in a small way down to the other teams.

The issues this season have come about in part because each has only had the other to deal with. All their energy and competitive effort has been focused on a single opponent.

If they remain the dominant team next season, and the title race is again between the two of them, that will continue—and they won't survive together. What has happened in 2014 will happen again.

One will decide to go, or Mercedes will force their hand.

But if there are some more boys in the playground in 2015, things should be different.

Throw in a couple more targets for them to focus on, and it would turn the very personal rivalry into a three-, four- or five-way battle. While they'd still view each other as the prime target, the intensity would—perhaps—be lessened.

But the primary factor is of course what happens on the track, and for now the ball is in Rosberg's court.

As David Coulthard put it in his BBC column, Rosberg is on a yellow card. He has been warned—if he takes Hamilton out again in a manner similar to Spa, Mercedes' management may well decide he has to go.

If they let him off with another wrist slap, it's entirely feasible that the emotionally driven Hamilton would walk out of his own volition. He already feels cheated, and would certainly have no lack of suitors.

Hamilton taking out Rosberg, on the other hand, is unlikely to cause as much trouble. The Brit doesn't yet have a warning hanging over his head, and it's difficult to picture Rosberg storming out after a single incident.

Should it happen more than once, that may change—though it's less likely the calmer Rosberg would walk, in part because he would have fewer alternative doors to choose from.

Mercedes will try to do what they can to keep a lid on this feud, but the reality is that for now at least the responsibility lies with the drivers.

Between them, or individually, they have to find a way to make things work.

But the next grand prix is the hot, sticky, near-two-hour long race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore.

Cool heads may well be in short supply.

Follow @NeilJamesF1