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So where does the competition between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg stand against the great rivalries of Formula One? 

After a Monaco Grand Prix weekend which saw tensions reach a boiling point, some would have you believe that it already comes close to the bitterness between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which is widely recognised as F1's finest feud.

Even Hamilton himself, who has rarely shied away from comparing himself to the Brazilian three-time world champion, was quoted by Autosport as suggesting to BBC Radio 5 Live that his battle with Rosberg is rapidly approaching that stage.  

Those who seek to claim that the Rosberg-Hamilton rivalry comes within touching distance of Prost-Senna, however, are dealing in the currency of hyperbole.

The modern world and its addiction to PR will prevent this battle from getting spectacularly out of hand on and off-track.

What Murray Walker, the legendary Formula One commentator, described as "fantastic" in 1989 would be translated as a "breach of contract" or an instance of "bringing the sport into disrepute" in 2014.

And besides, the battle between Rosberg and Hamilton—despite being ignited by the former's convenient mistake in qualifying at Monaco—continues to lack the sheer intensity which defined the Senna-Prost era.

It is undeniable, though, that the simmering tensions between the Mercedes drivers carries the core ingredients which could allow it to become the defining rivalry of the current era.

We have the kid from the streets of Stevenage against the boy who grew tall in Monaco. We have the driver who benefited from a helping hand from one of the sport's iconic institutions against the son of a world champion.

We have the world's most marketable athlete, according to SportsPro, with over two million Twitter followers and a topsy-turvy romance with a pop star girlfriend, against the settled husband-to-be with a fraction of the social media fame. 

We have the the aggressive, pure racer against the tactical driver with a profound interest in engineering. We have the established title winner, hungry for more, against the man hoping to add his name to the honours list.

And we have the team's marquee signing against the servant who remained loyal throughout the difficult periods and is now looking for the rewards.

When you examine the differences in background, application and careers paths of Hamilton and Rosberg, it is surprising that their friendship, established in their teenage years, has lasted this long.

As Saturday became Sunday over the Monaco weekend, it emerged—as these things so often do—that the origins of the breakdown in relations between Rosberg and Hamilton were to be found not in the dying moments of Q3 when the German ran wide at Mirabeau, but in the previous grands prix.

Niki Lauda, Mercedes' non-executive chairman, confirmed to Sky Sports' television coverage of the Monaco race that Hamilton used a forbidden engine mode during the Spanish Grand Prix to defend his lead from the charging Rosberg. 

Hamilton admitted that this was the case during the post-race FIA press conference in Monaco, but accused Rosberg of pulling a similar trick in the Bahrain Grand Prix—something which Rosberg and Mercedes have neither confirmed nor denied, with Jonathan Noble of Autosport maintaining that the bond between the drivers only began to break after the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Hamilton's conscious decision to ignore the wishes of his team carries alarming parallels to his previous high-profile war with a teammate, reflecting poorly on the 29-year-old in a season when he appeared to have been driving and behaving with more maturity than ever.

In qualifying for the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton led then-McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso out of the pit lane to begin the fuel burn phase of Q3. The British driver refused to obey the instructions of the team's hierarchy to allow Alonso through, maintaining track position and therefore putting the cars out of sequence for their mid-session tyre changes.

As the clock ticked towards the close of the session, Hamilton found himself stacked behind Alonso in the McLaren pit lane, with the Spaniard purposely delaying his departure from McLaren's pit box to ensure that his teammate would not have enough time to complete his out-lap in time for a final flying lap.

Sure enough, Hamilton crossed the line only seconds after the chequered flag had fallen—denying the rookie a chance to claim pole position ahead of Alonso, with the two-time world champion later handed an ultimately title-deciding five-place grid penalty for impeding his teammate.

Hamilton, despite initiating the chain of events which led to Alonso's reaction, had emerged as the victim, his reputation unharmed and enhanced, with his McLaren ally accused of cheating.

The events of the 2014 Spanish and Monaco grands prix have almost been a mirror image of the events of that August Saturday afternoon in Budapest, with Hamilton provoking his teammate into an act which hindered his chances of success, yet adopting the persona of an innocent victim.

Hamilton's choice to maintain his clear displeasure despite Rosberg, unlike Alonso seven years ago, being cleared of any wrongdoing by the FIA stewards, has only served to inflate the predicament and needlessly increase tensions within the Mercedes team.

The curious similarities between Hungary 2007 and Spain/Monaco 2014 makes you wonder just how much Hamilton has grown up since being thrust into the public spotlight of McLaren seven years ago, before fleeing the nest of his mentors at the end of 2012.

The ability to learn from mistakes was a quality which Senna prioritised above all else, but the Brazilian's self-appointed incarnate has now twice made an error which carries huge consequences for his employers.

It is, perhaps, only right that the last word goes to Toto Wolff, the boss of both Hamilton and Rosberg at Mercedes.

While reflecting on the demands of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend Wolff told ESPN F1, "Sometimes, and I mean this with a positive spin, they are a little bit like teenagers finding out how far they can go."

Rosberg and Hamilton are boys competing in the shadows of men.

Mirabeau, Sainte Devote and the Nouvelle Chicane. Those three corners—in three separate moments—sealed Lewis Hamilton's fate at last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix (if such an ominous phrase can be applied to a second-place finish).

We will get to those three moments, but what is more important is that none of them have anything to do with his team's pit stops, the timing of which caused Hamilton to blast Mercedes' strategy on the team radio. And while his frustration at the time was understandable, it was misplaced. 

He was not wrong, necessarily, to question his team—although publicly embarrassing your employer is never a good strategy—but he was wrong if he thought it was going to make any difference in the finishing order of the grand prix.

Hamilton's race was lost when his teammate, Nico Rosberg, went off at Mirabeau during qualifying, scuttling a potential pole lap for Hamilton; when Hamilton failed to get past Rosberg into the first corner, Sainte Devote, at the start; and when Adrian Sutil crashed his Sauber at the Nouvelle Chicane, bringing out the safety car during the pit stop window.

When the Brit was unable to pass his teammate at the start, he seemed content to follow Rosberg through Monaco's twisty streets, waiting for an opportunity to pass him during the pit stops. 

On Lap 25, Sutil lost control, bounced off the wall and slid through the chicane, showering the track with debris. A few seconds after the terminally damaged Sauber stopped just off the circuit, Rosberg and Hamilton passed by. As they neared the pits, the safety car had not yet been deployed, so the two Silver Arrows continued for another lap.

Early on Lap 26, the safety car was sent out and Mercedes called both cars in at the end of the lap. Hamilton slowed slightly to allow the team to service Rosberg before he arrived in the pit box. Both stops were executed cleanly, and Rosberg and Hamilton remained first and second on the track.

Hamilton was not impressed, though, and TV viewers heard him on the team radio demanding to know, "What's the reason we didn't box the lap before?" He went on to tell the team, "We should've pitted on that lap. I knew I should've. I also knew you wouldn't call me in, guys."

Maybe he was hoping that the team would have brought him in the lap before, leaving Rosberg out, but that was unlikely to happen. Usually the driver ahead on the track is given the option to pit first, so if either Mercedes would have pitted earlier, it would have been Rosberg.

After the race, Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff said, per ESPN F1, "We tell the drivers they can do whatever they want, as long as it's not underhand." While the racing and the pit stops were all above board, the incident in qualifying is still open to interpretation.

Had the pit stops occurred under normal racing conditions, Hamilton would certainly have had a chance of getting past Rosberg—though it was by no means guaranteed.

At the post-race FIA press conference, Hamilton was still unsure as to what had happened with the stops. "I think they saw a crash and normally under the crash we could have come in and I really should have come in but the team didn’t call us in," he said. "We really should have pitted that lap."

Rosberg, though, was not troubled by the situation—probably because he benefited from it—saying, "I know I can rely on them to make the right call at all times so it’s not something that I’m thinking too much about, the strategy and should I be boxing now or not, because I know that they’re going to make the right call."

Prior to the season, it seemed that Ferrari's decision to pair two former world champions—Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen—had the biggest potential for fireworks. Just six races into the season, though, Hamilton and Rosberg have accounted for the majority of intra-team conflict.

In the end, the driver who lost was upset. We should not expect anything different from a man as competitive as Hamilton, although publicly questioning the team's decisions will not help.

Now, the once-friendly relationship between Hamilton and Rosberg has begun to deteriorate as it has become clear that they are the only realistic contenders for this year's Drivers' Championship. But as the friendship cools, their rivalry is heating up—and that can only be positive for Formula One fans.

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The 2014 Monaco Grand Prix will in the coming years be recalled as the weekend which saw the relationship between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton take a turn for the worse.

The friction that has developed between the Mercedes drivers, following the latter's apparent accusation that Rosberg sabotaged his final qualifying lap, has unquestionably added greater intrigue to a highly tense title battle.

The human element of supposed best friends becoming the greatest of rivals in the blink of an eye is a subplot which all can relate to, meaning everyone has an opinion and everyone cannot help but take a side of the argument.

Just as it should, however, the behind-the-scenes business took a back seat for the majority of the 78-lap race, allowing the athletic and psychological qualities of both Hamilton and Rosberg to take prominence.

To those unfamiliar with Formula One, it is frequently called into question whether drivers can be classed as athletes.

After all, they just sit in a car and go around in circles for two hours, don't they?

The performances of both Mercedes drivers on the roads of Monte Carlo, Monaco, though—in a street fight which felt more like a war of attrition—left little doubt that F1 drivers are elite sportsmen—even if F1 itself for much of the weekend seemed more like a school playground than the very summit of motorsport.

Both Rosberg and Hamilton entered the race under very different pressures yet discounted those with great expertise to arguably produce a more exciting battle than they did in April's Bahrain Grand Prix, when they crossed the finish line within one second of each other.

The former began the day with the sorry label of a cheat still hanging over his head—despite being cleared by the FIA stewards on Saturday evening—while the latter was determined to gain revenge after he was, in his view, wronged in the dying minutes of Q3 by his teammate's underhand tactics.

Hamilton's intention to "do a Senna," as recorded by Byron Young of the Mirror, would have planted a seed of doubt in Rosberg's mind ahead of the grand prix start, with the 2008 world champion presumably referring to the title-deciding first-corner clash between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, his biggest rival, at the beginning of the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix.

The presence of a new clutch on Rosberg's Mercedes W05 car would have only added to the German's potential concerns ahead of the illumination of the five red lights, before which Hamilton made the effort of shaking his hand through gritted teeth on the grid in an act of respect.

The scrutiny, with those factors as well as his recent problems with starts and a three-point deficit to his teammate in the drivers' standings, weighed heavily on Rosberg as he pulled away from that No. 1 grid slot—but he executed his getaway with perfection.

On every lap that Rosberg passed the Mirabeau corner, he would have been reminded of the controversial events of qualifying, perhaps praying that the wheel lockup which came close to tarnishing his unblemished reputation the previous day would not reoccur.

With the knowledge that only an unforced error would give Hamilton a genuine chance to overtake, Rosberg was faced with the challenge of hitting every apex, and apart from a couple of wheel lockups, did so.

In addition, Rosberg managed his pace during his fuel-saving period in the early stages expertly, morphing his car into a carrot on a stick for the chasing Hamilton.

Hamilton himself, meanwhile, was faced with the task of balancing his emotions with the job in hand—something which he has struggled to do throughout his eight-year Formula One career.

And although the former world champion appeared flustered over team radio, frequently berating race engineer Peter Bonnington, Hamilton performed admirably, remaining within touching distance of Rosberg.

A common problem when drivers follow others for long periods of time is that they become so transfixed with the behaviour of the car ahead that they can lose awareness of the movement of their own cars.

When the leading car makes a mistake and runs wide, for instance, the driver behind can find themselves literally following their lead and running wide themselves, which carries huge risks around a circuit such as Monaco.

Hamilton, though, kept himself to himself and lurked around his teammate's gearbox, maintaining constant, wearying levels of pressure.

His frustration with Bonnington and the Mercedes strategists via team radio for failing to invite him to the pit lane in the immediate aftermath of Adrian Sutil's race-ending shunt at the Nouvelle Chicane, which led to a safety car period, displayed the traits of a thinking driver that have rarely been associated with Hamilton in the past.

The nature of the Circuit de Monaco, with its tight corners and unforgiving crash barriers, meant that the chances of a race-long battle between Rosberg and Hamilton, who were both operating under the influence of so much emotion, were small.

But for Hamilton's significant drop in pace in the latter stages of the grand prix when his vision was hindered—causing a disappointing anti-climax—there is no reason to suggest that the Mercedes drivers would not have hassled one another until the chequered flag and all the way up to the steps of the Royal box of Prince Albert II.

Drivers often claim that the track gets tighter and tighter as they edge ever closer to glory on the streets of the principality, but the skill and concentration levels possessed by the responsible Rosberg and Hamilton ensured a clean, compelling and enjoyable fight took place, making the streets of Monaco feel like a purpose-built race venue.

And whichever side you've taken following the antics of the third and final qualifying segment on Saturday, it is impossible to deny that either of these men would make a worthy world champion when the chequered flag falls in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in November.

We all knew the relationship between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes drivers, would turn sour at some point in 2014.

Much had been made of the friendship between the pair, which stretches back to their teenage years as teammates in karting.

Rosberg, in the aftermath of Mercedes' signing of Hamilton in late 2012, told Tom Cary of The Telegraph how he would play practical jokes on his mate as a youngster. 

Hamilton, meanwhile, told Paul Weaver of The Guardian at the beginning of last season how he and Rosberg would spend time riding unicycles when they weren't playing table tennis, football and computer games together.   

Underneath the smiles, the quirky promotional videos and funny anecdotes, however, the tension has gradually simmered this season as it has dawned on both Rosberg and Hamilton that they are now fighting head-to-head for the biggest prize in motorsport.

And when the Formula One World Championship is on the line, any relationship, no matter how long-standing, is impossible to maintain—as Toto Wolff, the boss of both drivers at Mercedes, effectively admitted to Byron Young of the Mirror earlier this season.

The events of the qualifying session for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, though, has seen the relationship between Rosberg and Hamilton take a twist that even Wolff could not have expected.

Rosberg held a slight lead over his teammate at the top of the timesheets after the first runs of the third and final segment of qualifying on Saturday before running wide at the Mirabeau corner and taking to the run-off area.

The deployment of yellow flags, forcing drivers to ease their pace as Rosberg made his way back on to the circuit, left Hamilton unable to improve his time, therefore leaving the German's earlier pace-setting time unchallenged.

Hamilton's post-session reaction, failing to acknowledge his friend during the photo-call in parc ferme before biting his lip for the duration of the FIA's press conference, told you all you needed to know regarding the 2008 world champion's view of the incident.

When asked by Pete Gill of Sky Sports whether Rosberg had intentionally denied him pole position, Hamilton said: "Who knows? I'm not saying anything. I was on a pole lap [at the time of the incident], I was up by a couple of tenths."

Rosberg, though, argued that there was no malice behind his off-track excursion, telling BBC Sport's Andrew Benson:

I just locked up. I thought I was going to hit the tyre wall. I knew I had a banker [lap] so I just tried to push that little bit more and went over the edge.

Of course I'm sorry for Lewis. I didn't know exactly where he was but once I was reversing I did see he was coming up. Of course that's not great, but that's the way it is.

Rosberg added that his driving inputs in the lap that he left the track were "very similar" to the lap with which he secured pole position—but a glance at the onboard footage of the No. 6 Mercedes tells a different story.

If you compare Rosberg's steering movements at the Mirabeau corner on the lap of his mistake, above, and his pole lap, below, you will see that the German is much more aggressive in his manipulation of the steering wheel.

Drivers often sweep across the track on the downhill run between Casino Square and Mirabeau to avoid a bump on the racing line, with Rosberg tilting his steering wheel slightly to the right under braking for the tight right-hander, effectively warning the car of his next move before fully committing to the corner.

On the lap of his mistake, however, the German is much more aggressive in his movements, rocking the wheel from right to left, almost as if he was torn between continuing with his own lap and cementing his position by preventing his rivals from completing their own. 

It seemed as though Rosberg, due to his unnatural steering manipulations, had forced the wheel lock-up which made his mind up for him, encouraging the 28-year-old to take the immoral option.

It should, however, be remembered that Monaco is a circuit which rewards the type of flamboyant, aggressive driving style which Rosberg had adopted on his final attempt. The track's tight, twisty nature and its lack of dependence on engine power in contrast to other venues means drivers who drag their car around the principality's streets can make all the difference. 

With provisional pole in his pocket, Rosberg was arguably well within his rights to explore the very limits of the track, his car and his own performance to ensure the front grid spot remained with him.

And just as the unique demands of Monaco played a role in Rosberg's mistake, the track also played a major part in the furore which followed.

After all, this was not the first time, and probably won't be the last, that a Mercedes driver has made a decisive error in qualifying this season.

And when you are in the heat of battle with a teammate who happens to be a long-term friend, with the weight of expectancy of one of the world's largest car companies on your shoulders, it is no surprise that mistakes have been made.

Rosberg, like in Monte Carlo, nursed a slender lead in qualifying and held on for pole after Hamilton locked up and ruined his lap at Turn 1, while the German himself was prevented from challenging his teammate on the Saturday of the Chinese Grand Prix after spinning at the final corner in wet conditions.

Because this occurred at a circuit as confined as Monaco, though—where yellow flags are more frequent and cause more disruption and distraction for drivers than any other track on the calendar—the significance and suspicion surrounding this incident has been heightened.

It is evident, following the decision of the FIA stewards, that Rosberg's mistake was just that: an innocent, human error.

Innocent and human? You could no longer use those words to describe his relationship with Hamilton, who, like others, appears to have fallen into the strap of seeing conspiracies which aren't there.

The best of friends have suddenly become the biggest of enemies.

Lewis Hamilton won last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix by 0.636 seconds over his Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg. A tight margin after 66 laps to be sure, but Rosberg never really challenged him the way he did in Bahrain.

In the post-race podium interview, though, Hamilton said, "I wasn't fast enough really today; Nico was quicker. I struggled a lot with the balance and really had to rely on my engineers a lot more to give me the gaps and to try to find where I could find time. ... But Nico was just generally quicker this weekend but fortunately I was able to keep him behind."

Was that comment just a humblebrag from Hamilton—you know, guys, Nico is faster than me...it's been tough to beat him in four straight races—or was Rosberg actually quicker? What does the data (that we have access to) say?

And, perhaps more importantly, if Rosberg was quicker than Hamilton, why did the Brit take pole position and the race victory?

In qualifying, Rosberg was indeed faster than Hamilton through Q1 and Q2. On the team radio, according to F1 Fanatic, Hamilton told his race engineer Peter Bonnington, "Not quite sure how but we've made the car worse. It's a nightmare to drive at the moment."

Still, Hamilton improved by nearly one second over his previous best time when it counted, in Q3. Rosberg, meanwhile, improved his time as well, but not by enough. Hamilton took the pole by 0.168 seconds.

Hamilton held on to his lead into the first corner of the race, but he could not shake Rosberg. During the first stint, according to the FIA's timing data, the gap between the two Mercs grew to a maximum of 3.050 seconds on Lap 12, but Rosberg had reduced it to 1.635 seconds just before Hamilton's first stop, on Lap 18.

For most of the second stint, the Hamilton-Rosberg gap hovered in the three- to four-second range. By Lap 46, after both drivers' second stops, there was 4.856 seconds between them—the largest gap of the race.

From there, Rosberg slowly reeled Hamilton in and, by Lap 59, was 0.984 seconds behind...close enough to use DRS.

But even with reduced drag on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya's kilometre-long main straight, Rosberg could not find his way past the 2008 world champ.

In each of the three stints—before, between and after their two pit stops—Rosberg put in at least one quicker lap than Hamilton's best, lending credence to Hamilton's assertion that Rosberg was faster. Yet still, Rosberg could not get by.

The Barcelona circuit is known as a difficult track to pass on—with Hamilton's win, 12 of the last 14 pole-sitters have won the race—but there was plenty of overtaking in the DRS zones last Sunday. According to Clip the Apex's database, only the Bahrain Grand Prix has had more overtaking manoeuvres this season.

On the podium, Rosberg said, "one more [lap] I could have given it a good go. I wasn't close enough to give it a go there but next lap I would have."

But he had seven laps from the time he first got into DRS range and was unable to even challenge Hamilton, as he had done repeatedly in Bahrain. After that race, B/R's own Oliver Harden suggested that Rosberg was too accommodating and perhaps not selfish enough to beat Hamilton.

True or not, the conclusion after the Spanish race must be disheartening for Rosberg: He could—and did—drive faster than Hamilton, but he could not pass him. It should also be disheartening for fans who are counting on a close Hamilton-Rosberg battle in the Drivers' Championship to keep this season interesting.

But no one should panic yet. Rosberg is only three points behind Hamilton in the Drivers' standings, and the next race, Monaco, is literally in his backyard.

If he cannot beat—or at least challenge—Hamilton there, though, his championship campaign may be in serious trouble.

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As Mercedes swagger towards double world championship successes, having sealed their fifth victory in five races, it’s worth sparing a thought for the remaining 10 teams in Formula One.

The grumpy sound, ugly noses and skinny wings of 2014 were supposed to represent a fresh start for the majority of those outfits.

Even Red Bull Racing, who having secured their fourth consecutive world title at the end of 2013, seemingly had fewer reasons than most to change and underwent a makeover ahead of F1’s new era, promoting Daniel Ricciardo to partner Sebastian Vettel.

Ferrari, meanwhile, pulled the plug on Felipe Massa’s stint as Fernando Alonso’s doormat to sign Kimi Raikkonen, thus creating a “dream team” partnership. Then they replaced team principal Stefano Domenicali with the unexperienced Marco Mattiacci.

McLaren, in contrast, sought to recreate history by appointing a rookie, Kevin Magnussen, to partner a world champion in the shape of Jenson Button. Then they removed team principal Martin Whitmarsh, employing Eric Boullier as McLaren’s racing director.  

Lotus looked to compensate for their financial troubles by partnering two of the most spectacular but crash-prone drivers in F1, Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado, after being persuaded by the wad of cash stuffed into the latter’s back pocket.

Williams and Force India marked the new start by attracting high-profile sponsors as well as a new driver or two, with the former effectively rearranging their technical department for good measure.

But Mercedes?

They signed Lewis Hamilton to replace Michael Schumacher in September 2012, with Niki Lauda joining the team on the very same day.

Norbert Haug departed the team that December before they lured Toto Wolff from Williams in January 2013, with Paddy Lowe’s appointment confirmed the following month.

Ross Brawn left the team last November.

And the car that finished almost 50 seconds ahead of its nearest challenger at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday? Well, that had been in the pipeline several years before it hit the track.

That’s why the 2014 season has failed to live up to the expectations of several teams thus far and why—after only five rounds—the only battles worth fighting for are for second and third place in the constructors’ standings.

Mercedes got their transition year out of the way last year, while transition has suddenly crept up out of nowhere on some of their closest rivals and left teams fighting with one hand tied behind their back in some cases.

The Silver Arrows have benefitted from having a clear vision in their bid to win the championship with their recruitment process—which was considered excessive when the German manufacturer appeared to have more staff than positions—ultimately paying dividends.

Although Red Bull, having suffered something of a hangover due to their constant success over the last four years, are almost certain to finish as runners up in 2014. Thanks to the aerodynamic craft of Adrian Newey, the ever-improving Renault power unit and a strong driver line-up, the battle for third should be more hotly contested.

Unfortunately, however, whoever does finish third will be best of a fairly average bunch.

Ferrari, who currently hold that spot and are favourites to cement their position at the end of the season, are the anti-Mercedes. While the Brackley-based team have achieved their success through meticulous planning and creation of structure, the Prancing Horse operates on feeling and emotion.

Like Real Madrid, the football club who pride themselves on creating a team of “Galacticos,” Ferrari have sought to align themselves with the most famous names with the most iconic team in the blind, hollow hope that success will be inevitable.

The reports over the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, as told by Paul Weaver of The Guardian, are that the Italian team had made steps to sign Newey from Red Bull were the latest developments in Ferrari’s obsession with superstars, which will ensure that Marco Mattiacci’s tenure as team principal will be a short one.

Ferrari’s move for Newey smacked of desperation and, more interestingly, suggested an apparent lack of pedigree in terms of talent-spotting.

Perhaps that should not come as a surprise, however, given Luca di Montezemolo’s role as Ferrari president seems to require him to wave his arms and complain about either his own team or the general health of Formula One.

After all, Mercedes signed Toto Wolff from Williams, who had ended the 2012 season in eighth in the constructors’ standings prior to his departure, while Paddy Lowe was an understated figure at McLaren.

Mercedes’ loyalty to Nico Rosberg, despite the German having only one grand prix win to his name prior to 2013, also deserves credit and reflects their eagerness to unearth their own talent.

McLaren, meanwhile, re-signed Peter Prodromou, who was an underrated figure under Newey at Red Bull, and you would suspect that Shaun Whitehead and Craig Wilson—just two of the men who Williams have lured from Mercedes and Red Bull respectively in recent months—have never even registered on Ferrari’s radar.

Such a lack of attention to detail means that, despite the obvious talent which graces the cockpits of their cars, Ferrari will finish third by default in the 2014 constructors’ standings, should they maintain their current position.

Mercedes have set the standard both on and off track in 2014, creating an innovative and pace-setting piece of engineering with their new power unit, while their progressive organisational techniques have signalled the beginning of the end of the traditional team principal’s role and rewritten F1’s rulebook.

Forget the constructors’ championship—Mercedes are in a league of their own this season.

After Mercedes’ fifth consecutive victory of the season in the Spanish Grand Prix, the title fight has already become a two-horse race between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, the new championship leader.

The Silver Arrows’ dominance over the rest of the field has almost made a mockery of the 2014 regulation changes, which were introduced with the secondary aim of ending the winning run of another irresistible combination.

Formula One’s long-awaited season of change seems increasingly like a continuation of the same old story, with one team setting pole position, galloping into the distance and winning the race.

The fall (well, stumble) of Red Bull Racing and Sebastian Vettel has coincided with the astronomical rise of Mercedes, who rather depressingly already appear to have both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships in the bag barely two months into a 19-race season.

In an ideal world, we would like to see several different drivers from a range of teams in the hunt for the title, as we saw most recently in 2010.

The sheer depth of quality in F1 has been evident this year, with five of the sport’s 11 teams securing at least one podium finish in the opening four races—which makes it all the more frustrating that those pesky Mercedes cars won’t give anyone else a go at this winning business.

Despite trying their best to take the fun out of Formula One in terms of competition, it would be wrong to suggest that Mercedes are destroying the 2014 season due to the compelling inter-team battle between Rosberg and Hamilton.

Because the title battle is exclusive to the German manufacturer’s drivers, the early rounds of the season have carried much more intensity than usual. In previous years, the cat and mouse thrillers in Bahrain and Spain would still have been exciting, but taken in isolation as both drivers and team would have focused on getting points on the board with the long game in mind.

In 2014, however, every race has been and will be driven in the knowledge that every single point gained is a crucial one and could prove decisive when the chequered flag falls for the final time in Abu Dhabi in November.

This has understandably led to both Rosberg and Hamilton experiencing high levels of pressure, introducing a human element to proceedings and reinforcing the idea that F1 is centred on the idea of man meeting machine.

It is common knowledge that both drivers take alternative approaches to their racing, with Hamilton driving with his heart while Rosberg drives with his head, but as every weekend passes we are learning more and more about their differences in application.

It was curious that, prior to the weekend, the Spanish Grand Prix was widely considered a pivotal event for Rosberg.

The consensus seemed to be that if the German failed to stop the rot and put an end Hamilton’s career record winning streak at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the British driver would be uncatchable for the remainder of the season.

Rosberg had, after all, showed signs of strain and frustration at the end of every grand prix since his season-opening victory in Australia, appearing rattled by his long-term friend’s success.

Yet, like all great sporting battles, the momentum shifted dramatically in Spain as Rosberg led the way in qualifying until the dying minutes of the third segment of qualifying before subjecting his teammate to intense pressure in the latter half of the race.

Hamilton’s agitated radio messages and lock-up on Lap 64 as Rosberg closed in suggested a return to the counterproductive habits of his late McLaren days, when a lack of maturity prevented him from fulfilling his potential.

That’s the beauty of this season: Hamilton and Rosberg are fighting themselves as well as each other. The former is eager to finally confirm his transition from boy to man, while the latter must prove that he is worthy to compete for the world championship.

For the Mercedes drivers, 2014 is as much a personal voyage as it is an opportunity to cement their places in F1 history.

That we have been able to learn so much from Rosberg and Hamilton in only five race weekends is a credit to the team, who have openly sought to provide a service to fans and onlookers. Mercedes' unwillingness to implement team orders has allowed the 2014 season to provide intrigue despite a shortage of title protagonists.

In putting their own success, harmony and professional pride at risk by allowing their drivers to race, the German manufacturer has treated us to some of the most exciting grand prix endings in recent memory in Bahrain and Spain.

As a consequence, Toto Wolff’s recent admission to Andrew Benson of BBC Sport that Mercedes may be forced into reconsidering their philosophy as the season progresses was met with an understanding nod of the head, rather than accusations of how the team would be spoiling the spectacle if they opted to decide the outcome of the race from the pitwall.

Mercedes’ eagerness to ensure that F1 appeals to the masses has even led to the team planning to test a new exhaust system at this week’s test in Barcelona, as reported by Jonathan Noble of Autosport, which will see them become the first outfit to actively combat the quiet noise produced by the new V6 turbocharged power units.

Although, on the face of it, a season that has seen the same car effortlessly win every race thus far may seem boring, the 2014 F1 campaign carries much more interest than first meets the eye.

It is plausible that Mercedes’ 2014 season could one day be mentioned in the same breath as the 1988 campaign enjoyed by McLaren, which is lovingly remembered as the season which saw two evenly matched but very different men blow away the opposition.

And what’s more? Mercedes are going about their business this year with you, the viewer, in mind.

It’s worth bearing that in mind before you follow the lead of their rivals and write off this season.

Lewis Hamilton is flying in Formula One at present, but he's also doing well off the track after being named Britain's richest sportsman.

The Mercedes driver has an estimated £68 million fortune, according to the Sunday Times Rich List (via the Independent).

Hamilton trumps former F1 team-mate Jenson Button, who remains at McLaren.

Wayne Rooney's estimated £60 million fortune makes him Britain's richest footballer.

A surprise entry at No. 4 is basketball player Steve Nash. The 40-year-old is South African-born and has represented Canada at the Olympic Games, but he holds a British passport through ancestry and is therefore eligible.

Elsewhere on the list are prominent footballers such as Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Ryan Giggs, while Andy Murray also rises up the list after his victory at Wimbledon in 2013.

Britain's Top 10 Richest Sportsmen

1. Lewis Hamilton (Motor racing): £68m

2. Jenson Button (Motor racing): £63m

3. Wayne Rooney (Football): £60m

4. Steve Nash (Basketball): £56m

5. Rio Ferdinand (Football): £44m

6. Andy Murray (Tennis): £40m

7. Steven Gerrard (Football): £37m

= Frank Lampard (Football): £37m

9. Luol Deng (Basketball): £36m

= Ryan Giggs (Football): £36m

Source: The Sunday Times Rich List 2014