Mercedes AMG Petronas

After Lewis Hamilton threw away victory with an ill-advised pit stop at the Monaco Grand Prix in May, Mercedes' strategy was flawless at Silverstone Circuit on Sunday, enabling Hamilton to overcome a poor start and that inevitable English rain to win the British Grand Prix—his fifth victory in nine Formula One races this year.

Although Hamilton and his team-mate Nico Rosberg qualified first and second, Felipe Massa nosed his Williams between the two Silver Arrows on the run down to Abbey corner at the start. Valtteri Bottas, in the other Williams, nearly followed him through but settled for third on the opening lap.

Meanwhile, further back, a collision involving Daniel Ricciardo, as well as both Lotuses and both McLarens, brought out the safety car. At the restart, Hamilton pushed too hard to get past Massa, running wide and allowing Bottas through. 

As the two Williams held the Mercs at bay for lap after lap, hope took hold that maybe—just maybe—there would be a result other than a sixth Mercedes one-two (and eighth win) in nine races this year.

On Sunday at Silverstone, though, just an hour down the road from Hamilton's birthplace in Stevenage, Mercedes' decisive pit stop calls made the difference, while Williams struggled to keep pace despite their early lead.

With Massa, Bottas and Hamilton each separated by less than a second on Lap 14, the Mercedes pit crew ran to their pit box, as though one of their cars was coming in for a stop. Both Mercs carried on, though, along with the two Williams.

Rule 23.11 in the Sporting Regulations states, "Team personnel are only allowed in the pit lane immediately before they are required to work on a car and must withdraw as soon as the work is complete." 

Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff admitted the team violated this rule, telling the BBC, "Sometimes you have to play the little games but [Williams] did not swallow the dummy."

It seems that Mercedes will escape punishment for trying to force Williams' hand into making an early pit stop, though.

Five laps later, Hamilton did dive into the pits while both Williams continued for another lap. Had Massa pitted at the same time, he might have stayed ahead.

Instead, the Mercedes pit crew's speed—Hamilton's stop was 1.4 seconds quicker than Massa's, according to a graphic shown on the television feed—and that one extra lap on fresh tyres allowed Hamilton to jump Massa, who just barely stayed ahead of Rosberg when they both pitted the next time around. Meanwhile, Bottas had to wait another lap for his stop, also just staying in front of the second Merc.

Driver	In-lap	Out-lap	Position before stops	Position after stops
Felipe Massa	1m 37.901s	1m 58.445s	1	2
Valtteri Bottas	1m 36.610s	1m 58.416s	2	3
Lewis Hamilton	1m 37.846s	1m 56.349s	3	1
Nico Rosberg	1m 36.975s	1m 58.054s	4	4

Released from the Williams, Hamilton quickly pulled away, building an eight-second lead by Lap 37.

Throughout the afternoon, dark clouds threatened the track and rain could be seen falling in the distance in many of the wide-angle television shots. From mid-way through the race, it was apparent that the rains would come—but no one knew exactly when, how hard they would be or how long they would last.

Around Lap 35, umbrellas started to pop up around the circuit and some of the cars running further back started to pit for intermediate rain tyres, taking a chance the weather would worsen.

At that point, it was obvious Massa did not have the pace to catch Hamilton. Meanwhile, television viewers heard Bottas repeatedly ask over the team radio to switch his tyres.

Williams qualified both cars on the front row at the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix, but they finished third and fourth and the team faced criticism for employing an overly conservative strategy (see BBC pundit James Allen's race report for an example).

Choosing an alternate strategy to Mercedes on Sunday, at least for one of their cars, might have given Williams a fighting chance when the heavier rains came. Instead, the team chose a conservative strategy once again, seeking to protect their second and third positions. And as in Austria a year ago, it did not pay off.

On Lap 39, with Bottas visibly struggling for grip, Rosberg passed him at Copse. From that point, Bottas fell completely off the pace and never recovered, finishing fifth. Two laps later, Rosberg passed Massa and began closing on Hamilton.

As the rain continued, it was Mercedes and Hamilton who again made the perfect call, pitting first among the front-runners, on Lap 43.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, running fifth, followed Hamilton in, ultimately vaulting him ahead of the Williams and onto the podium.

Rosberg, Massa and Bottas came in just one lap later, but that extra lap on slick tyres around a wet track ensured no one would have a chance of catching Hamilton.

"We waited one lap longer on the second stop which is where we lost the opportunity to be on the podium," lamented Massa in a team press release. "That shower also highlighted the car's weakness in the wet."

As in Monaco, it was ultimately Hamilton's decision to pit when he did, saying after the race, per Sky Sports' Pete Gill, "It's always tricky for the guy out in the lead, but I think it's the first time in my Formula 1 career I perfectly made the right choice as I could see the rain coming more. So I feel extremely happy about that."

GUYS!!! What an amazing RACE!! Thank you all for the incredible support, you all are amazing. IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME!!! pic.twitter.com/oB3fuDtUI9

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) July 5, 2015

Meanwhile, according to the same piece, Rosberg explained, "He made the right call and I was pretty sure it was wrong. I was happy to stay out and I was thinking 'this is mine'. But then it started to rain and I was finished."

Of course, had the rain let off earlier, Hamilton might have been caught out on rapidly degrading intermediate tyres, but that just demonstrates the tiny margins in play when determining strategy in the midst of an F1 race.

At Monaco, Mercedes and Hamilton got it wrong, dropping him from first to third. At Silverstone, they got it right, and Hamilton climbed from third to first, winning his home race for the third time.

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Most athletes thrive in a hostile atmosphere.

They possess the quality to detach themselves from aggression, to remain immune to the hatred targeted at them—be it face-to-face or via the dark forest of social media—and to turn venom into victory.

Footballers, for instance, often discuss how being the subject of spite from opposition supporters only inspires them to perform at a greater level, to silence the scoundrels in the best possible fashion.

Many, in fact, are defined by hostility, with Robbie Savage, among the most divisive British players of recent times, telling the Mirror how he would "miss getting booed every Saturday" upon announcing his retirement from the professional game in 2011. 

The ability to deal with criticism and resist the temptation to retaliate—particularly in an era when the latest barrage of abuse is only ever a click of a keyboard away—is one of the greatest psychological tools in modern-day sport.

Nico Rosberg, however, has never been the type of sportsperson to be energised by, or to disconnect himself from, the animosity around him.

That became abundantly clear at last season's Belgian Grand Prix when Rosberg was booed throughout the podium ceremony, from the moment he appeared on the balcony to his podium interview, during which Eddie Jordan, the master of ceremonies, twice pleaded with the crowd to soften their stance.

The spectators' justification for their slaughtering of the German was, of course, Rosberg's clumsy attempt to pass his Mercedes team-mate and championship rival, Lewis Hamilton, on the second lap at Spa-Francorchamps, which resulted in the British driver receiving a puncture, almost instantly dropping him from first to last and, ultimately, out of the race.

While his second-place finish gave Rosberg a 29-point advantage over Hamilton at the top of the drivers' standings, the effect of the podium persecution was profound and after winning three of the six events prior to the Belgian GP, the German, despite claiming four pole positions, won just one of the final seven races.

In the midst of that barren spell, Rosberg—just 12 months after his compatriot, Sebastian Vettel, responded to boos by winning a record nine grands prix in succession—admitted to BBC Sport it was "tough, for sure, to get that from the spectators," implying his rough reception did have at least some effect on his form. 

That perhaps explains why Rosberg has been so eager to reach out to the fans ahead of his first British Grand Prix appearance since 2014's Spa shenanigans. At last weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed, he explained how he "fully understands" why the home crowd would prefer to back Stevenage-born Hamilton.

And in the post-qualifying FIA press conference at Silverstone, a media gathering usually spent discussing the events of the previous 60 minutes and the drivers' hopes for the race, Rosberg began by praising the "incredible" turnout and "how enthusiastic everybody is in this country about our sport."

You are MEGA! @SilverstoneUK #bestFans #massiveSelfie #britishGP #soldout #silverstone pic.twitter.com/4ttG0WOfaz

— Nico Rosberg (@NicoRosberg) July 4, 2015

Rosberg's strive for peace, however, is likely to be futile on the evidence of the fans' response when his name was mentioned in a Sky Sports interview with Hamilton on Thursday evening. 

The chorus of boos emanating from Silverstone's main grandstand provided a hint of what Rosberg can expect if he maintains his 100 per cent record of top-three finishes on Sunday, but there is one way to quieten the crowd.

Having won three of the last four races pre-Silverstone, Rosberg, the winner of the 2013 event, arguably entered this weekend as the favourite for victory.

Despite missing out on pole position by 0.113 seconds, per the official F1 website—an "annoying" margin, as he told the press conference—Rosberg's performance at the last round in Austria, where he snatched the lead from his team-mate at the first corner before dominating all the way to the chequered flag, should give him confidence ahead of the race.

The Red Bull Ring race was a breakthrough event for the German, who not only overtook Hamilton on track for the first time since Mercedes' rise to prominence at the beginning of 2014 but beat his team-mate in a straight fight.

No reliability gremlins, no tyre limitations, no out-of-position grid places, no Spa-like controversies—just good, old-fashioned driving.

In a video on his official YouTube channel, Rosberg claimed his performance highlighted the improvements to his race craft since 2014 and the British GP can confirm his enhanced psychological outlook.

If Rosberg can repeat that feat by overhauling Hamilton at Silverstone and winning in enemy territory, his rival's backyard, the effect on both drivers, at a stage of the season when they are separated by just 10 points, could be huge.

Just... wow... :) #BestFans #F1 #BritishGP #Silverstone @LewisHamilton @nico_rosberg @SilverstoneUKhttps://t.co/7QDYTPTaZM

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 4, 2015

The notion of beating the British hero at the home of British motorsport and under the noses of over 100,000 British supporters is a powerful one and Rosberg would revel in the delight of parading the winner's trophy in front of those who had come to see him fail.

Having struggled with being Formula One's latest pantomime villain for so long, Rosberg can spoil Hamilton's show at Silverstone.

Lewis Hamilton would have been hurting as he departed Silverstone on June 21, 2009.

As the reigning world champion at the time, the British Grand Prix should have been his race.

It should have been a festival, a celebration of all he had achieved across his opening two seasons in Formula One, which saw him come within a point of becoming the first rookie to win the title in 2007, before claiming the championship by the same margin 12 months later.

Yet at his homecoming, the boy who became King was little more than an afterthought.

The Lewis flags waving from the grandstands in 2007 and '08 had been replaced by tributes to Jenson Button, who with six victories in the opening seven races had become Britain's new hero, the nation's only hope.

As the runaway championship leader, it was Button who was the centre of attention, the man charged with the task of flying the flag. Hamilton, meanwhile, was a forgotten man, impaired by McLaren's MP4-24 car, giving him no hope of defending the title he fought so hard to earn.

And while Button, not for the first nor the last time at Silverstone, failed to live up to the pre-race hype, the Brawn driver's sixth-place finish was far superior to the weekend endured by Hamilton, who qualified on the back row of the grid before spinning en route to 16th, a lap behind race winner Sebastian Vettel.

It was, by some margin, the most degrading race of Hamilton's career and his performing of donuts on the post-race slow-down lap was almost an apologetic act for his failure to repay his admirers with another home win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2iGOvcx8kc

He later paid tribute to those spectators—many of whom undoubtedly purchased their tickets the previous winter fully expecting Hamilton to build upon his title triumph—telling the Mirror's Byron Young:

I want to say a huge thank you to the fans... It's been the biggest crowd for a long long time, and really due to them, all the support, all the noise they make, all the cheering, that's helped to carry me through the weekend.

I hope they know that I pushed my hardest and I'll bring it back to them one day.

That day should finally arrive this weekend, when—over six years since his last Silverstone appearance as the champion of the world—Hamilton will return to the home of the British motorsport as the one to beat, the leader of the drivers' standings and with the machinery at his disposal to make up for lost time.

Making up for lost time has, in essence, been the overriding theme of Hamilton's 2015 season.

His self-assured, tranquil performances for much of the opening eight races of the year have been those of a driver determined to right the wrongs of his career until this point, when—through a mixture of unforced errors and sheer misfortune—he failed to make the most of his vast potential.

With "the best car I've driven," as he told the Independent's Ian Parkes, and with his second title triumph in 2014 giving him the confidence, the knowledge that he is the best driver out there, Hamilton has cashed in on the most successful spell of his career.

Yet despite his three wins in the opening four races representing a near-perfect start to his title defence, his gradual decline in form since then—culminating in a scruffy display in Austria—has left Hamilton facing a compelling challenge ahead of the British Grand Prix.

For the first time since last November's Brazilian GP, Hamilton was beaten by his Mercedes team-mate and championship rival, Nico Rosberg, in a straight fight at the Red Bull Ring, where his 45th career pole position was his most fortunate yet after the German's spin on his final qualifying run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj6G9EbQbxY

Rather than punishing Rosberg's mistake, the British driver surrendered the lead at the very first corner—albeit at a venue where the grid slot for pole is arguably on the wrong side of the circuit—and was unable to retaliate, following his team-mate to the chequered flag.

Hamilton's five-second penalty for crossing the white line on his exit from the pits on Lap 36 effectively ended the fight at the front and was the kind of elementary, careless error one had assumed had, due to his recent success, been eradicated from his performance.

Unlike in Monaco, where a lack of communication between team and driver cost him victory, Hamilton had—as he had been for so many of his unproductive seasons between 2009 and 2013—been his own worst enemy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNHoMA10BPI

A true measure of how much Hamilton has matured as a driver, though, came in the race immediately after Monaco, in Canada, where he told the Guardian's Giles Richards how he had "moved on" from the disappointment of Mercedes' pit-stop blunder and remained true to his word, taking yet another pole-to-flag victory.

His claims that the memories of Monaco were in the past were one thing, but proving that was the case was an entirely different matter.

Still, Hamilton delivered.

It will be that "what's done is done" attitude that will almost certainly be carried into the British GP, where victory in 2014 was merely another tick in the box en route to his second title triumph.

This time, as a more relaxed, complete performer, Hamilton should be able to enjoy the occasion. He should be able to absorb, and thrive upon, the atmosphere. And he should receive the champion's welcome he would have craved so badly back in '09.

Silverstone will become a shrine on Sunday, and Hamilton, six years after being humiliated at home, will give the public what they want.

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Twice in the last four Formula One grands prix, Nico Rosberg has done something he struggled to do at all in 2014: He has beaten his teammate and championship rival Lewis Hamilton head-to-head in a fair fight.

"I think this year I found what I needed to find last year in terms of race [pace], y’know, and just doing a little bit better in the races and that’s really working out for me this year," Rosberg said in the press conference after taking his third win in four races on Sunday at the Austrian Grand Prix (he also beat Hamilton in Spain and Monaco, although the latter was hardly a straight fight).

Hamilton won nine of 11 races from the 2014 Italian Grand Prix to this year's Bahrain race, taking the drivers' title last season and opening a 27-point lead in the 2015 championship race (larger than his lead at any time last year, aside from after the final race).

Now, the gap is back down to 10 points and the plucky yet measured Rosberg is showing himself to be a real threat to Hamilton's hopes for a repeat.

That is good for the sport, as the expected (or at least hoped for) challenge from Ferrari has failed to materialize, despite Sebastian Vettel's victory in Malaysia and the team's recently upgraded power unit.

In Canada two weeks ago, the Scuderia had the pace, but they were unable to capitalize on it when Vettel qualified at the back of the grid and Kimi Raikkonen threw away a likely podium with a spin at the hairpin.

In Austria, Raikkonen lost control on the first lap and ended up underneath Fernando Alonso's McLaren. Vettel, meanwhile, looked headed for the podium until a long pit stop dropped him behind Felipe Massa's Williams.

Mercedes have not been perfect this season, either—look at Hamilton's Monaco fiasco or qualifying in Austria, where both drivers spun on their final flying lap—but such is their performance advantage that they can get away with those mistakes and still emerge victorious.

Ferrari, as we saw in Malaysia, still need to be perfect to have a shot at the Silver Arrows.

Team principal Maurizio Arrivabene acknowledged as much, saying, per a team press release:

I’d like us to be the first, and that means we have to commit ourselves beyond what’s possible. We must use whatever we have available and try to get as close as we can to our main competitors, taking advantage of their mistakes. Also, as per the time we lost during Seb’s unfortunate pit stop, we must work with humbleness: because, even if everything had gone well, that wouldn’t have been enough to beat both Mercedes on track. But this only prods us to never give up.

Watching Sunday's race, at first glance it looked like Hamilton gave the race away with a slow start, his inability to pressure Rosberg and a five-second penalty for crossing the pit exit line. Upon further review, though, Rosberg was simply the better man this weekend.

He was quicker than Hamilton in two of three free practice sessions and the first two qualifying sessions. After Hamilton ended up in the gravel on his last qualifying run, Rosberg had a chance to snatch pole, but he carried too much speed into the final corner and ended up on an off-roading excursion of his own.

In the end, it didn't matter. Rosberg made a slightly better start and, assisted by the Red Bull Ring's setup where the pole-sitter is on the outside going into Turn 1, jumped into the lead.

"I had a problem with the wait revs," Hamilton explained in the post-race press conference. "I took my foot off the gas and it was still on—like the throttle was still on—and then I dumped the clutch and just lots and lots of wheelspin."

Aside from the four laps after his pit stop, Rosberg led the whole race and was never under serious threat from behind.

Hamilton's best chance to pass his teammate, at the pit stops, was nullified when Rosberg cooly turned in the fastest lap of the grand prix as Hamilton was in the pits (at 1 minute, 11.235 seconds, that lap was nearly one second quicker than the best lap at the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix—Sergio Perez's 1 minute, 12.142 seconds—illustrating the ongoing improvement of the cars).

Even with the memory of his qualifying error in the back of his mind, Rosberg was still able to push the limit when it mattered. And that can only be a confidence builder, as surely he will need to continue to test his limits if he hopes to beat Hamilton to the championship.

Mercedes' fifth one-two finish of the season moves them 136 points clear of Ferrari, which actually makes for a closer constructors' title fight than at the same point last season, when they were 158 points ahead of Red Bull.

Meanwhile, despite Hamilton's recent sufferings, he is actually in much better shape than he was post-Austria 2014. Then, Rosberg was ahead by 29 points; now, as mentioned, Hamilton is up by 10.

The spell that Hamilton cast over Rosberg and the F1 world for the six months encompassing the end of last season and the beginning of this one is broken, though. Rosberg is truly back in the fight.

The next grand prix is Hamilton's home race at Silverstone, although that is not necessarily an advantage—British drivers in recent years have one of the worst home records in the sport. In 2014, Rosberg qualified on pole, but Hamilton inherited the victory when his teammate's gearbox failed.

The defending champ figures to remain a heavy favorite, both for the next race and for the title, but the gap is closing.

There are only two races over the next nine weeks and you can bet both drivers want some positive momentum to carry them through the long summer. For the first time in a while, that momentum is swinging toward Rosberg's side of the garage.

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Nico Rosberg's title chances in 2015 were always going to be built upon his ability to take chances.

In a season when Lewis Hamilton, stimulated by his second world-championship triumph in 2014, was bound to be elevated to a new level of performance, engaging in head-to-head battle with his Mercedes team-mate was never a realistic option for Rosberg.

Instead, the German needed to focus on his strengths, stacking up points on a fortnightly basis and remaining in striking distance of Hamilton, waiting to pounce.

And while Rosberg cut a downbeat figure across the opening four races of the season as he proved incapable of matching his own performances of 2014, never mind those of Hamilton, the game plan was working.

Second in Australia. Third in Malaysia. Second in China. Third in Bahrain.

Although it was left to Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, the Ferrari driver, to take the headlines with their race victories, an under-the-radar Rosberg—despite being by far the least convincing of the three front-runners—was doing everything he needed against the backdrop of the long game.

He soon earned consecutive wins in Spain, where he secured a pole-to-flag victory on an off-weekend for his team-mate, and Monaco, where he—not Vettel, not Kimi Raikkonen—was the one to exploit Mercedes and Hamilton's pit-stop disaster.

Twenty-seven points adrift of Hamilton in the drivers' standings after Bahrain, Rosberg had closed the gap to just 10 points in the space of just 144 laps at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and Monte Carlo.

What appeared to be a slow start to the season almost seemed to be part of the plan. Rosberg was suddenly a serious contender just a month after being dismissed as a mere onlooker in the title battle.

Yet the problem with an approach such as Rosberg's, of course, are the pressures that come with the knowledge of needing to capitalise upon every single opportunity that arises over the course of a 19-race season.

It requires not only consistency, but the predatory instincts and pressure-management skills to rise to the occasion—think of Fernando Alonso's knack of lifting his performance level whenever the smell of victory permeates the air—and ensure every chance, no matter how slight, is taken.

And that was where Rosberg failed in qualifying for Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix, throwing his car off the circuit when pole position was there for the taking.

At a venue where he claimed one of his most assured victories in 2014, Rosberg—as was the case in Spain—looked the most comfortable Mercedes driver at the Red Bull Ring, outpacing Hamilton in two of the three practice sessions, according to the official F1 website.

His advantage continued into qualifying when on a drying track, per the same source, Rosberg was faster than his team-mate by 1.242 seconds in Q1 and 0.428 quicker in Q2.

When it mattered most, however, Rosberg was unable to maintain his supremacy. That revealed as much about Hamilton's progression as a driver, and his newfound ability to salvage success from the edge of defeat, as it did about the German's failure to take advantage of his latest opportunity.

Hamilton's advantage of 0.2 seconds after the first runs of Q3 counted for nothing when he spun at Turn 1 on his final lap, preventing him from improving his own time and therefore gifting his team-mate the chance to claim pole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj6G9EbQbxY

Rosberg, though, carried too much speed into the penultimate corner and ran wide, as a direct result of overdriving in his efforts to displace Hamilton at the summit of the time sheets, when simply guiding his W06 Hybrid through the final complex would have been enough.

His desperation to lose as little time as possible saw him swing his car toward the apex of the final corner, but in doing so, Rosberg lost control and was spat into the gravel trap.

The chance was gone. The opportunity was wasted.

Qualifying - @nico_rosberg walking back to the pits following his spin at the final corner #AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/9NOTUuNFna

— Getty Images Motorsport (@MSI_Images) June 20, 2015

The sight of Rosberg trudging down the pit lane as he returned to parc ferme—his shoulders slumped, his crash helmet hiding the embarrassment on his face—was reminiscent of Hamilton's walk of shame at last year's Hungarian Grand Prix, when his qualifying session was ended before it began as his car burst into flames.

While Hamilton recovered from that disappointment to produce one of the defining drives of last season, securing third place from a pit lane start, Rosberg is likely to carry his frustration into the Austrian GP, playing the role of "the other car" in Mercedes' latest one-two finish.

for sure Niki drives the last corner better than I did pic.twitter.com/r1XyJSzfd0

— Nico Rosberg (@NicoRosberg) June 20, 2015

If he is yet again shown the way home by his team-mate, Rosberg will doubtlessly unfurl an ever-depleting list of excuses to explain why he was unable to challenge Hamilton.

He may, as he told Mercedes' official website in Canada, argue that being in the dirty air of his team-mate forced him to conserve his tyres and brakes. Or he may describe the difficulties in trying to overhaul a driver with the same machinery, with the same hybrid power.

ROSBERG: "I knew I had to go for it. It's a very challenging track." #Quali #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/XlSZSm22ir

— Formula 1 (@F1) June 20, 2015

Or he might, as was the case in Australia, suggest restrictions on fuel prevented him from launching a truly noticeable—never mind serious—assault in the latter stages.

Those excuses, however, can no longer disguise the simple truth that Rosberg, no matter what he tries, is unable to match a driver of Hamilton's calibre.

It's time to go back to the drawing board.

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It was at the midpoint of last season's British Grand Prix when Lewis Hamilton solidified his status as the modern-day Nigel Mansell.

Having been beaten by his Mercedes-team-mate, Nico Rosberg, for three consecutive races, Hamilton's season slumped to a new low in qualifying, when he effectively decided against taking pole position, aborting his final effort under the misplaced belief that the track was too damp to improve his lap time.

Starting out of position in sixth, Hamilton, according to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson, vowed to switch to "attack mode" in his efforts to chip away at Rosberg's 29-point lead in the drivers' championship, and he remained true to his word.

He dispatched Nico Hulkenberg and Sebastian Vettel after just four corners, and within two laps of the restart following Kimi Raikkonen's crash on the Wellington Straight, he had made his way up to second place, just five seconds adrift of Rosberg.

It is in that situation—head-to-head, dog-eat-dog, him-versus-me—where the greatest champions of sport usually perform at their best. It was no different at Silverstone on that July afternoon, when Hamilton, shortly after his first pit stop, sent ripples through the timing screens.

On the 26th of 52 laps, Hamilton, on the hard-compound tyres, recorded a lap of one minute, 37.176 seconds, a time that, according to F1 Fanatic's Keith Collantine, was "over two seconds faster" than any driver had produced until that point.

And it remained unbeaten for the rest of the race, with no driver able to come within 0.3 seconds of Hamilton's time, per the same source, despite ever-decreasing fuel loads and some cars fitted with the theoretically faster medium tyres.

Had Rosberg not retired from the lead on Lap 29 with a debilitating gearbox problem, Hamilton's raw pace would have laid the foundations for what could have been the race of 2014 with two team-mates—one the home favourite, the other his closest rival—fighting for the victory in the British GP.

Comparisons with the iconic 1987 event, which saw Mansell defy the odds—breaking the Silverstone lap record 11 times in the last 15 laps, as he told F1 Racing magazine (h/t ESPN F1)—in hunting down Nelson Piquet before passing the Brazilian at Stowe, would have been inevitable.

Perhaps the memories of '87, and the vivid image of the two Williams-Hondas hurling nose-to-tail down the Hangar Straight, were swirling around Hamilton's mind when he told Sky Sports' Pete Gill how he was "gutted not to have a wheel-to-wheel race."

Denied a crowning "Mansell moment" he may have been, yet Hamilton had shown ferocious levels of speed once typical of the 1992 world champion, and the nature of his performance, at a time when all was against him, deserved a more spectacular, Nigel-esque conclusion.

Hamilton is said to lack the common touch of the man affectionately known as "Our Nige"—his detractors cite his residence in Monaco as evidence of his supposed disconnection from reality—but it is undeniable the two-time world champion shares many of the traits that made Mansell a folk hero.

When I stated Lewis Hamilton to be a 'bad role model' it was nothing to do with his behaviour. And everything to do with his tax status.

— Joey Barton (@Joey7Barton) December 17, 2014

And most of them ultimately revolve around his knack of creating drama.

Like Mansell, the charm of watching Hamilton throughout his career—or at least until very recently—has been found in his ability to produce entertainment, be it beneficial or detrimental to his personal prospects.

On a given race weekend, it was once impossible to predict which Lewis Hamilton would take to the track: the one with supreme speed, perfect judgement and overwhelming bravery, or the one who would act as his own worst enemy, blindly waltzing toward his own downfall.

As was the case with Mansell, who could follow up an assured victory by spinning off at the next round as a direct result of pushing too hard, you can never be sure just what Hamilton will do in a race, just that he will do something.

Also linking Hamilton and Mansell is the trajectory of their careers, which have contained feast-and-famine cycles.

After finishing second in the drivers' standings in '86 and '87, Mansell only won three races across the following three seasons, and it felt as though, despite the British driver certainly possessing the talent and speed to win the world championship, his chance to join the elite had passed him by.

Yet his return to Williams in 1991 was the starting point of one of the most dominant periods of F1 history, with Mansell winning 14 grands prix over two seasons, making up for lost time.

The same is true of Hamilton, who after arriving in F1 with a bang by claiming nine victories in his first two seasons, culminating in his maiden title triumph at the final round of 2008, was starved of success.

Hamilton won just 13 races across the next five years as Vettel, the most triumphant driver in that period, claimed 38 victories and four world championships.

During that spell, as McLaren failed to recapture their form of '07 and '08 and Hamilton's private life trickled into his professional one, there was a genuine risk of him becoming a one-title wonder, unable to fulfill his potential.

His switch to Mercedes, though, led to Hamilton finally receiving the championship-winning car he craved, and the 30-year-old has made the most of his opportunity, winning 15 of the 26 races since the start of 2014.

The 10th race of that run, last year's United States Grand Prix, saw Hamilton break Mansell's record of 31 wins, according to BBC Sport, to become the most successful British driver of all-time in terms of grand prix victories.

It is not just their success and their identical approaches, but their journeys—and our privilege in witnessing and sharing the many highs and many lows of their careers—that have made Mansell and Hamilton the greatest, iconic British F1 drivers of their respective eras.

For all the comparisons between Hamilton and Ayrton Senna—the Mercedes driver himself told MailOnline's Jonathan McEvoy of his hopes of equalling the Brazilian's three world titles this season—it is another driver of that generation, one a little closer to home, to whom he is closely linked.

For Our Nige, see "Our Lew."

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You can tell a lot about a Formula One driver by the way they celebrate a grand prix win.

Some, such as Kimi Raikkonen, simply take victory in their stride, raising a reluctant arm of, if anything, acknowledgement, tolerating the formalities of the podium ceremony, swigging some champagne and moving on to the next one.

Others, in stark contrast, make an episode of the affair, reveling in their success, reinforcing their superiority and treating their post-race antics as an encore to their on-track performances. 

https://twitter.com/F1Photographer/status/582206117826027520

Think of Sebastian Vettel's finger-waving exploits and how, with every swing of his forearm, his index finger would resemble a knife, slicing and severing the championship hopes and dreams of his rivals. 

Think of Michael Schumacher's podium leap, how he would stomp on and crush his own opponents while marking his territory on the top step.

Such celebrations—these trademarks, if you will—reveal much about how drivers, and athletes in general, value the very sensation of achievement as well offering an insight into their state of mind, their attitude and their outlook.

And like his fellow Germans, Nico Rosberg appears to have developed a signature celebration of his own if his recent victories in the Spanish and Monaco grands prix are anything to go by.

Upon returning to parc ferme after the chequered flag, it is common practice—the minimum requirement, in fact—for the winning driver to clamber out of their car, stand on the monocoque with their arms raised before hopping down and receiving congratulations and back slaps from their mechanics, only removing their crash helmet between that point and their arrival at the pre-podium, cool-down room.

But Rosberg?

At both the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and last weekend's Monte Carlo race, he offered a modern twist on that tradition, removing his helmet before perching on his car and fulfilling the remainder of his celebratory obligations. 

A slight variation it may be but, in a sport where full-face helmets and PR waffle often conceal a driver's true emotions, the effect was profound and surreal.

It felt as though this was a conscious effort by Rosberg to ensure the emotion, the joy and the relief on his face was captured by nearby photographers and television cameras and that beaming, ear-to-ear grin—not just the bulging eyes through the helmet's letterbox—was transmitted to millions around the globe.

It was almost living proof of the belief that to truly understand, appreciate and savour the most gratifying moments in life, we must first experience hardship.

Bullied by Lewis Hamilton, his Mercedes team-mate, since last summer and having won just one of the last 13 races until Spain, this was Rosberg confirming he was well and truly back and treasuring, cherishing victory more than ever before, perhaps as a direct consequence of his degrading, winless run.

A degrading, winless run that, following his claiming of two successive victories for the first time in his F1 career, is beginning to feel like a distant memory.

As Hamilton was threatening to run away with this year's world championship, establishing a 27-point lead with victory at the fourth round in Bahrain, it didn't matter so much how Rosberg halted the British driver's momentum but that he somehow found a way of doing so as soon as possible.

Yet now he has won two very different races on consecutive weekends, cutting Hamilton's advantage to just 10 points, Rosberg has the chance to build some momentum of his own at a stage of the season already carrying remarkable similarities to 2014.

As was the case last year, he arrived at the Spanish GP on the back foot, requiring a strong, error-free performance to restart his campaign and delivered emphatically, harassing Hamilton to the finish line in 2014 and dominating from lights to flag in 2015.

Likewise, the Monaco GP was a race he wouldn't have won in straightforward conditions, but when uncertainty intervened and the variables came into play—for 2014's qualifying controversy, see 2015's late-race safety car—it was, rather predictably, Rosberg who triumphed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83ZdmU8JI9s

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

As he admitted in the post-race FIA press conference, Rosberg benefited from "a lot of luck" with the appearance of the safety car in Monaco, but his vow to "to make the most" of his good fortune is where the true challenge lies.

While, post-Monaco 2014, it was Hamilton under pressure to provide an instant response in Canada, one of his most favourable venues, this time there will be an emphasis on Rosberg to prove he can succeed in his own right and not just the occasions when his team-mate endures an off-day, or when external factors rob him of victory.

For Lewis, nothing will—or should—change; if he can recover from the shock and disappointment of Mercedes' Monaco mishap, the results will flow as effortlessly as they had until that point. But for Nico, his ability to take advantage of and widen any cracks in his team-mate's armour in the coming weeks could be potentially career-defining.  

Should Rosberg prove able to match or outpace Hamilton at Montreal for the second consecutive season, his title challenge will be firmly back on track. And who knows? Winning, as it has with Hamilton since his second championship victory, may very quickly become second nature.

But if he is unable to come close to his team-mate in Canada and normal service resumes?

The gleaming smile of relief Rosberg was so eager to show in Spain and Monaco will soon disappear and retreat within the prison of his visor once again.

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On Lap 64 of 78 in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was just beginning to enter the danger zone.

Having dominated two-thirds of the race after securing a comfortable pole position on Saturday, a fourth win of 2015 felt like a formality.

Within 15 laps of the chequered flag, and with a 21-second lead over second-placed Nico Rosberg, Hamilton would have switched to management mode, focusing on just bringing the car home, ensuring nothing could snatch victory from his grasp.

He would have negotiated the tight, twisty turns with increasing wariness, leaving a little more space between his wheels and those cold, hard, smothering crash barriers. 

He would have applied the throttle with more caution than at any stage over the grand prix weekend. And he would have caressed the brakes, which he was forced to manage in the early stages, with greater responsibility than ever before.  

It is in the danger zone, when victory seems so close yet remains so far away, where drivers are struck down by paranoia, causing their minds to play cruel tricks on them.

They hear an unusual noise emerging from the engine and are certain that a failure is imminent, or they feel a slight change in the car's handling and become convinced they've suffered a puncture, thinking up a host of worst-case scenarios and applying them to their individual situation.

Although it is common to see leading drivers and teams conserve their positions toward the end of the race, such an approach risks being counterproductive at Monaco, which favours those who attack its turns with an unrelenting intensity.

Particularly at Monaco, the moment you think the race is won is quite often the first step toward defeat as competitors find themselves torn between offence and defence.

Ayrton Senna, who crashed out of the lead of the 1988 event soon after easing his pace, and Nigel Mansell, who lost the '92 race to the Brazilian after a late pit stop (due to a "puncture" which was, in fact, nothing more than a loose wheel nut according to Tom Rubython's book, The Life of Senna), have both been caught out by the danger zone in years gone by.

And Hamilton became the latest on Sunday, when he had only a third-place finish to show for his 64 laps in front.

The race, of course, was turned on its head when Max Verstappen crashed at Sainte Devote after a collision with Romain Grosjean, which resulted in the deployment of the safety car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Choizr91OCk

Previously content with just controlling the race en route to the chequered flag—the FIA Race Lap Analysis shows the British driver was still pushing hard prior to the safety car—Hamilton and Mercedes suddenly had a decision to make and made what proved to be the wrong call, opting to pit for super-soft tyres while Rosberg and third-placed Sebastian Vettel continued to circulate.

With track position all-important at Monaco, Hamilton rejoined third and, despite the advantage of fresher and faster tyres, was unable to pass Vettel for second—never mind Rosberg, who took his second win in succession.

Although Mercedes have claimed the blame for costing the British driver victory, with executive director Toto Wolff telling Autosport's Ian Parkes how the team miscalculated the gap between Hamilton and Rosberg at the time of the safety car, it seems Hamilton was behind the decision to pit.

In the post-race FIA press conference, the reigning world champion admitted that the team initially instructed him to "stay out," but Hamilton's concerns over the temperature of his soft tyres, which were fitted during his first stop on Lap 38, led to a rethink.

Wolff confirmed this to Sky Sports' James Galloway, reporting how Hamilton had complained there was "no grip any more," encouraging the team to undertake a precautionary pit stop when, in reality, there was nothing to guard against.

For all the improvements Hamilton has made in terms of performance since his second title triumph in 2014, as we alluded to after qualifying, perhaps his ability to read a race and make smart, confident, correct decisions from the cockpit is one of the very few areas where he continues to fall short.

#NR6 “Lewis has done a perfect job, he was better than me over the weekend, so he definitely deserved the win” #F1 pic.twitter.com/oudNZSkUs2

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 24, 2015

After all, could you imagine the likes of Rosberg, Vettel and Fernando Alonso, among others, making the same call to even risk losing the lead had they been in the same position?

Not only were Mercedes guilty of underestimating the distance between Hamilton and Rosberg, the team were also at fault for failing to provide the former with a steady, guiding hand when the curve ball that was the safety car was thrown.

The calm on Rosberg's side of the garage—the German told the FIA press conference that he "didn't discuss pitting" despite his "stone cold" rubber—was in stark contrast to the no-yes chaos of Hamilton's team as their driver faced a no-win situation, the final hurdle to a second Monte Carlo triumph.

Toto “I don’t think there has ever been a more bittersweet feeling than this one” #MonacoGP http://t.co/1StC77e2Me pic.twitter.com/LQzzB5i7I9

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 24, 2015

It was a hurdle they failed to negotiate successfully, as what Mercedes and Hamilton thought was a free pit stop soon became one of the costliest they'll ever make.

The Silver Arrows are developing a habit of making strategic errors, with the only race they have failed to win this season, the Malaysian GP, seeing Mercedes pit both Hamilton and Rosberg behind an early safety car and later fit the former with the harder, slower tyres at a time when he had aspirations of challenging Vettel for victory.

After the Sepang race, Wolff declared that it was "the wake-up call that we needed," according to Sky Sports' James Galloway, but Mercedes have failed to learn their lessons from that afternoon.

#LH44 “I always say to my team and my fans, we win and we lose together. You live to fight another day” #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/hZwSmC9afh

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 24, 2015

And although the team will, quite rightly, receive much criticism for their latest clanger, Hamilton, having succumbed to the danger zone, may not be entirely blameless.

As Lewis himself, admirably gracious in defeat, told the FIA press conference, "We win and we lose together."

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Considering his recent form at the circuit, you'd have been forgiven for assuming Nico Rosberg was on course to displace Albert II as the Prince of Monaco.

Not since the days of Ayrton Senna, who won six Monaco grands prix in seven years in the late 1980s and early '90s, has a driver established such an intimate, harmonious bond with that two-mile long stretch of track as Rosberg has in the last three campaigns.

Less than a second away from stealing the win from Mark Webber in 2012, the German secured a pole-to-flag victory in '13—30 years since his father, 1982 world champion Keke Rosberg, claimed his solitary win at Monaco—and repeated the feat last season at a venue where he grew tall and continues to reside.

For an adolescent Rosberg, the Casino Square complex might not have been one of the most iconic corners in Formula One, but simply a place where he crossed the road on his way to school each morning.

The seafront section—stretching all the way from Portier, through the tunnel, the Nouvelle Chicane and Tabac to La Rascasse—may not have provoked thoughts of grand prix racing, but memories of innocently tossing stones into the Mediterranean Sea as he toddled along the quayside.

Such an intricate knowledge of, and familiarity with, the region has almost seemed to have given Rosberg, particularly since he gained access to race and championship-winning cars, a head start, if not an unfair advantage, over his peers.

hi @SilverArrowsNR6 from monaco. here is my video answer for you #askNico #MonacoGPhttps://t.co/Y8QTT0nZ4W

— Nico Rosberg (@NicoRosberg) May 20, 2015

After Graham Hill's dominance in the '60s and Senna's stranglehold, Rosberg had become the modern-day Mr Monaco.

And according to BBC F1's Twitter account, he entered this weekend with the chance of cementing his place in the heart of Monte Carlo folklore by becoming only the second driver to claim three consecutive pole-to-flag victories.

Yet the German's abiding grip on the event was finally released in qualifying when Lewis Hamilton, the reigning world champion and Rosberg's Mercedes team-mate, claimed pole position on an afternoon that epitomised their respective 2015 seasons thus far.

After losing the title to Hamilton at the final round of 2014, Rosberg has been unable to replicate the performances which put him in that position in the first place, suffering from that dangerous mixture: a general lack of pace and a number of mistakes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEPQWG7kez4

Rosberg's weekend got off to a less than impressive start on Thursday when, at the beginning of first practice, he brushed the barrier on the exit of Tabac and the German made two separate, sizable errors in the latter stages of qualifying, the most stressful Saturday session of the season.

Having locked up and taken to the run-off area at Sainte Devote on his final run of Q2, Rosberg made the same mistake on his last Q3 effort. But despite managing to avoid another off-track detour, the time lost meant the lap was ruined before it it had even begun, leaving him with no option but to abandon his final lap.

The @nico_rosberg lock-up that brought out the yellow flags at the end of Q2 to end @JensonButton's #Quali #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/zOV9HrhxIQ

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 23, 2015

Even on a circuit he had made his own, the one place he was expected to succeed more than any other, Rosberg had still found a way to lose.

While Rosberg salvaged defeat from the brink of victory, Hamilton did very much the opposite, providing the latest sample of evidence that his second championship victory has transformed the way he operates on the track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dR5ouKD1eQ

After looking comfortable on Thursday, the British driver's pace deserted him in FP3, in which Hamilton, according to the official F1 website, was 0.3 seconds slower than his team-mate. Although, per the same source, he managed to close the gap to just 0.060 seconds in Q1, the deficit was again extended to around 0.4 in Q2, which is where his afternoon transformed.

In years gone by, when he was lacking in maturity and direction, Hamilton would have simply soldiered on aimlessly into Q3, clinging to the hope of finding something from somewhere and ultimately causing himself more harm than good.

Quote of the afternoon? "I have no rhythm" from @LewisHamiton after his runs in Q2. Looks like somebody found some ;) #MonacoGP

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 23, 2015

Yet now, as a two-time world champion, the winner of nine of the last 12 grands prix, he had the presence of mind to momentarily escape the competitive bubble and emerge as the team's calming influence.

"Calm down and reset," he said over team radio, according to Sky Sports' James Galloway, delivering the briefest of motivational speeches.

HAMILTON: "It's been a long time. I can't express how happy I am to be on pole at Monaco. It's incredibly special." pic.twitter.com/BdkkmbUrSp

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 23, 2015

Having been outperformed by Rosberg in the last three Monaco GPs as well as the Spanish Grand Prix a fortnight ago, Hamilton effectively reminded himself that he was battling a man he had often beaten with ease since last Autumn.

That—even if this was Monaco, Nico's own backyard—he would reap the rewards if he approached Q3 in the same way he'd handle any other qualifying session.

From the moment his thumb came off the radio button on his steering wheel, the result was hardly in doubt, and Hamilton, with a refreshed perspective and first on the road in the inter-team fight at Mercedes, oozed class, securing pole by a comfortable 0.342 seconds (according to the official F1 website).

Standing at Tabac on Thursday morning, F1 journalist Peter Windsor noted that Hamilton was "floating" through the corner, while Rosberg divided the turn into "components," which was symbolic of how the pair are performing at this stage of 2015.

We're ready for some more wheel to wheel, wall to wall racing tomorrow! CANNOT WAIT!! #MonacoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/jNYlbM9ark

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 23, 2015

Whereas Lewis, provided he remains calm, conducts himself with exquisite levels of self-assurance and poise, Nico is fragmented and untidy, proving unreliable when it comes to stringing together the perfect lap or, indeed an ideal, unblemished weekend.

Rosberg, with history on his side, might be considered Monaco royalty. But expect Hamilton, with a first pole at the principality, to dethrone him on Sunday afternoon.

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Lewis Hamilton has signed a three-year contract extension with Mercedes, keeping him with the Formula One team until 2018 and reportedly making him Britain's highest-paid sportsman.

Mercedes confirmed on Wednesday that Hamilton had put pen to paper on the new contract, giving both him and the team a significant boost ahead of Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix:

CONFIRMED: 3 more years for @LewisHamilton! “@MercedesBenz is my home” #3MoreYears pic.twitter.com/PAmAWudo2v

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 20, 2015

Hamilton commented on the deal, per Mercedes' official release: "Mercedes is my home and I couldn't be happier to be staying here for another three years. This is a company filled with real passionate racers, from the board room to the factory floor, and an incredible hunger to win. Even after the success of last year, that hunger is greater than ever—and it's the same for me, too."

Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Toto Wolff explained the situation around Hamilton's contract, per Mercedes' website:

Continuity is one of the key factors for delivering success in Formula One and we now have that in place. Lewis enjoyed an historic World Championship season with Mercedes-Benz last year and it was a priority for this season to renew his contract for the next term.

We have taken the right amount of time with the process and not rushed ourselves. The result is a strong agreement that will enhance Lewis’ association with the Mercedes-Benz brand, and that recognises and respects the market value of Lewis and of Mercedes in Formula One.

Sky Sports' report indicates Hamilton is expected to earn more than any of his countrymen now that the new deal is inked. Paul Weaver of the Guardian suggests he will make £100 million across the next three seasons.

Hamilton had previously spoken hopefully of extending his relationship with Mercedes, per Sky Sports Audio, noting that a mere back-and-forth between lawyers was the sole impediment:

Hamilton eagily awaiting contract https://t.co/iFYUEZkYd6 via @audioBoom

— Sky Sports Audio (@SkySportsAudio) March 24, 2015

The 30-year-old currently sits atop the Formula One standings after getting his title defence off to a stellar start with victories in the Australian, the Chinese and the Bahrain Grands Prix. Team-mate Nico Rosberg closed the gap to 20 points with his recent win at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Hamilton is the defending champion after last season's simple title victory. He won 11 of 19 races to overcome Rosberg's threat by 67 points, as reported by Sky Sports. The pair's relationship has developed into a public rivalry, with BBC Sport even outlining them as "arch rivals" after numerous high-profile spats. Competitiveness lies at the heart of their differences.

However, Hamilton has provided Mercedes with a vote of confidence by signing the new contract. Rosberg inked a "multi-year contract extension" last season, per William Esler and James Galloway of Sky Sports. It's a symbol of the drivers' quality that, despite their bickering, Mercedes wishes to keep them together.