Mercedes AMG Petronas

So just how fast are Mercedes this year?

That had been the single biggest question mark across the paddock since the 2015 Formula One season sparked into life at the beginning of February, when it became clear the Silver Arrows' main focus across the winter was to eradicate the reliability problems of their title-winning 2014 campaign.

For much of the three pre-season tests in Spain, Lewis Hamilton, the reigning world champion, and Nico Rosberg, his team-mate, seemed content enough to just keep piling on the laps, getting as much mileage on their new toy, the W06 Hybrid, as possible.

148 laps on the final day of pre-season testing for the team! Next stop; Australia #BackToWork pic.twitter.com/eZn4bjfBTQ

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 1, 2015

Sure, there were flashes of pace—Rosberg's benchmark time on Day 2 of the final test, for example, sent ripples up and down the pit lane—but for the most part, Mercedes kept their cards close to their chest.

Not so much through secrecy, you understand—or due to the fear of providing their main rivals with a target at which to aim—but because they didn't need to.

Having won all but three races and secured 18 out of a possible 19 pole positions in 2014, Mercedes were never going to cede their advantage over the course of a few months and a winter that brought only minor regulation changes, despite the time sheet-topping exploits of Ferrari in testing.

It was, therefore, always a question of when for Mercedes.

When would they showcase their true speed? When would they illuminate both the track and timing screens? When would they shake the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas out of their daydreams?

It was generally expected that the moment would come in the third segment of qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix, the first truly serious session of the year, when the engines are turned up to full power, the cars are fitted with the fastest tyres and the drivers are finally let off the leash.

Hamilton's just done the fastest lap of the weekend, two-and-a-half seconds quicker than anything we saw last year. #F1 #AusGP

— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) March 14, 2015

But, in fact, it came slightly earlier than that, with Mercedes blowing the opposition away as soon as Q1.

With fewer than seven minutes remaining in the first part of the hour-long session, Vettel, competing in his first qualifying day for Ferrari, sat proudly atop the time sheets—as he did at various points across the winter—with a time of one minute, 29.307 seconds, as per the FIA television feed, on the soft-compound tyres.

Little more than a minute later, however, the German was relegated to third after Rosberg and Hamilton posted laps of 1:28.906 and 1:28.586 respectively, securing the top-two places by some margin despite using the harder, and theoretically slower, medium tyres.

The fact that Williams' Felipe Massa could only end Q1 seven-tenths adrift of Hamilton's pace-setting time (as per Formula1.com), despite running with the softer tyres—which, according to Pirelli's race preview, are between 1.2 and 1.5 seconds faster than the mediums—underlined the Silver Arrows' superiority.

Great #PRfail from @MassaFelipe19 in post-quallie presser: "I hope we have the same engine as @MercedesAMGF1". Adds: "I believe we do."

— Anthony Rowlinson esq (@Rowlinson_F1) March 14, 2015

Such was Mercedes' control of proceedings—Hamilton even left the cockpit for a comfort break with more than four minutes of Q2 to spare, having set another insurmountable time—that the fight for pole position was always bound to be between two drivers.

Yet it proved to be a one-man show as both Hamilton and Rosberg picked up where they left off at the end of 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyz4yKf1vv8

While Hamilton showed no signs of losing the form which allowed the 30-year-old to win six of the final seven races of his second championship-winning season, driving with a gorgeous mixture of poise and panache, Rosberg made the kind of scruffy errors which saw the 2014 title slip through his fingers.

"The speed was there but I just didn't get it together today," Rosberg told the official FIA press conference after a Q3 session which saw the German ruin his first run by sliding on to the grass run-off area at the penultimate corner before a dire first sector on his final effort left him with no chance of challenging his team-mate for pole.

Meanwhile, Rosberg has been on the grass as he looks to keep pace with his team-mate #AusGP #Quali pic.twitter.com/6R8mFV6GuQ

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 14, 2015

Despite his lacklustre performance when the pressure was on, Rosberg still managed to qualify second, with his gap of eight-tenths over the third-best time produced by Massa even more startling than Hamilton's advantage of 1.4 seconds (as per Formula1.com) over the Williams.

The 1.3 seconds gap between Hamilton and Massa suggests this year's Mercedes could be as dominant as Williams in 1992 and McLaren in 1988

— Jon Noble (@NobleF1) March 14, 2015

With Mercedes enjoying such an edge over the rest of the field even when one of the drivers has a relatively poor lap, the championship, if it were ever in doubt, is theirs for the taking once again. 

And it's clear that it'll take something special to deny Hamilton, currently in the form of his life, a second Australian Grand Prix victory and, even at this early stage, a third world championship.

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Need an indication of just how impressive Mercedes' start to pre-season testing has been?

Take a look at the comments emerging from Red Bull Racing and Williams, who finished second and third, respectively, behind the Silver Arrows in the 2014 constructors' championship after the first day at the Jerez circuit on Sunday.

"In general everything is behaving as it should. Obviously we had a couple of issues, but once the car is running it's all going pretty normally. A good first day, there are some positive signs there," said Daniel Ricciardo, whose RB11 completed 35 laps, to Red Bull's official website.

The thoughts of the Australian, the only non-Mercedes driver to win a race last season, were echoed by the outfit's head of race engineering, Guillaume Rocquelin, who told the same source:

The day generally went according to plan, starting cautiously, building up the length of the runs and learning all the time.

We had a small issue with the brake controls system around lunchtime but you're always going to have little niggles like that on days like this. 

There was a similar vibe at Williams, who racked up more than twice as many laps as the four-time constructors' championships, with Valtteri Bottas ending the day with 73 under his belt.

The Finnish driver spoke of a "really good" day's work to the team's official website, with chief test and support engineer Rod Nelson declaring himself "very satisfied" after going through "our normal winter test programmes."

Now compare the thoughts of Ricciardo, Rocquelin, Bottas and Nelson to those of Nico Rosberg shortly after the German finished his first day of official running behind the wheel of the Mercedes W06 Hybrid.

When asked whether—even at this early stage—he had begun addressing the weaknesses in his driving style that ultimately led to his defeat by Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' championship in 2014, Rosberg told Sky Sports' Paddock Uncut: "Now it's all about reliability, but, of course, even now you can always sneak in the odd setup change, as we did in the afternoon."

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

In that single sentence, Rosberg had encapsulated the sheer distance between Mercedes and their two closest rivals, never mind the four other teams—Ferrari, Sauber, Toro Rosso and McLaren—who participated in Day 1 at Jerez.

The very first day of pre-season testing, after all, has traditionally revolved around the process of easing everyone and everything back into a rhythm.

For drivers, it's about exposing those neck muscles to the strains of the corners, rebuilding those reflexes and nailing those apexes, while for mechanics and team members it's about recapturing the diligence and habits of the racing season.

The new cars, though, are most in need for a routine of some sort.

With new components and systems present on the latest designs, the sole aim of the opening day of testing, if not the opening test itself, is to ensure that the cars run smoothly and consistently, rather than particularly quickly. 

The desire to top the time sheets, for once, is secondary as the need to put the cars through their paces to identify (and eradicate) any potential problems takes hold.

That is especially true when you consider that the V6 turbo power unit regulations, introduced at the beginning of last year, are still very much in their infancy, and why it is often claimed that lap times—both fast and slow—are meaningless at the beginning of pre-season.

@MNZakharov @LewisHamilton Irrelevant at this point - testing is all about the mileage!

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 2, 2015

Yet at Mercedes, there is no sense that the team is gradually building into a flow.

In the eight-hour session on Sunday, Rosberg completed the best part of three grand prix distances, ending the day with 157 laps to his name—an unprecedented feat in this or any era.

While the likes of McLaren, with new power unit supplier Honda, were restricted to just six laps—all of which were ran at a significantly reduced pace—the Mercedes W06 just kept pounding around and around, only stopping when Rosberg parked up for his lunch break.

hi from jerez. quick lunch break in the car. schneller imbiss im auto #allgood #TestJerez @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/vOwLJADlWj

— Nico Rosberg (@NicoRosberg) February 1, 2015

According to Sky Sports' Ted's Notebook, the 157 laps were the equivalent of 695 kilometres, and the team managed to undertake as many as 17 live pit stops, providing the mechanics with a decent workout.

The sheer flawlessness of the W06's debut—following a shakedown at Silverstone last week—no doubt afforded Rosberg and the team the breathing space to begin the process of fine-tuning the car, which will surely be the most menacing aspect of Mercedes' day as far as their rivals are concerned.

Whereas most, if not all, of the other teams will be focused on gaining a basic understanding of their new machines for the remainder of the Jerez, the Silver Arrows' are seemingly already in the process of optimising theirs for qualifying and, of course, racing conditions.

That, should no major or recurring reliability issues arise between now and the start of the season, will leave Rosberg and Hamilton in the perfect position to surpass the achievements of 2014, which saw them claim a combined total of 16 wins and 18 pole positions in 19 grands prix.

As pleased as Red Bull and Williams were with their starts to pre-season testing, their best won't be good enough as long as a Mercedes is on track.

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Another duel between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg for the Formula One world championship.

Whether or not we like the sound of that, it appears to be the most likely outcome of the season ahead. Mercedes will continue to dominate, and the title race will be another two-horse affair between the Silver Arrows.

Bernie Ecclestone is expecting it, The bookies are expecting it, and Rosberg himself is expecting it. In a recent interview, he told Sport Bild, per Motorsport.com, "I am very optimistic and believe it will again be a duel between Lewis and me."

This writer expects it to pan out that way, and you probably do too.

But can the sport afford another year with the likes of Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull reduced to the ranks of the also-rans?

Objectively, 2014 was a great season. It had most of the ingredients of a classic—uncertainty over the new regulations, the emergence of Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas as genuine stars, bags of on-track action, some special overtaking, and a bitter, dramatic title race that went all the way down to the wire.

But not everyone enjoyed the year, largely because Mercedes were so far ahead.

It was Hamilton versus Rosberg from the first practice session to the final chequered flag. Fans who might have preferred more cars involved in the action—or who perhaps just wanted their favourite teams or drivers to do well—branded the racing boring. Fans on Twitter were, as always, especially vocal.

Hamilton supreme in second practice http://t.co/bBaFbuXzWw. Looking like another boring Grand Prix with just Mercedes dominating again

— Robert Clay (@RobertClay62) May 9, 2014

Great win for Rosberg but it's getting boring these Mercedes 1-2.

— Jimmy Murray (@IRStrengthCoach) November 9, 2014

Others weighing in with the same accusations included FoxSports.com's William Dale and Force India driver Sergio Perez. Even Sebastian Vettel had a light-hearted jab during the pre-race press conference for the final grand prix of the year.

It wasn't for everyone, and some fans will have ended up switching off their TVs. Perhaps those flighty few who stuck around through the single-driver dominance of 2013 found the to-the-wire, two-driver title fight of 2014 too much to bear.

In other words, not many people at all.

Even if Mercedes dominate again in 2015, the sport's fanbase will remain. It survived the Michael Schumacher era and the Vettel era, so there's no reason it wouldn't survive a third dose of German dominance.

At least now, unlike in Schumacher's day, one cannot simply fall asleep after two laps and wake up already knowing the result.

The ever-increasing cost of acquiring live coverage, as illustrated by this F1 Fanatic article, will drive away far more fans than a pair of silver cars duking it out for the race win.

No, the fans aren't the problem.

All the teams on the grid want to come first. If they see an opportunity to give themselves an advantage at the expense of a rival, they'll take it. If a rule change will give them a leg up, they'll support it with great enthusiasm.

It's like that in all sports. Fortunately, most sports are controlled by governing bodies with something approaching a backbone that keep a firm grip on the reins of power. Competitors can throw their opinions into the ring, but in the end, they have the rules dictated to them.

Not so in Formula One. The primary decision-making body is not the FIA but the Strategy Group—set up, Ecclestone told Forbes' Christian Sylt, after the FIA "sold the rights" to making decisions in return for $40 million per year.

It comprises the commercial rights holder (currently represented by Ecclestone), the FIA and six teams—Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, Williams and one "floating" seat given to the best-performing other team. Currently, that's Force India.

Ecclestone and the FIA have six votes each and the teams have a vote apiece.

The existence of this body allows the larger teams to essentially govern the sport. They can change the rules and block proposals—for example, the planned budget cap that was supposed to come into force this year.

They could also wreak havoc with the engine regulations, and engines are the primary reason Mercedes are dominating at the moment. Their power unit was light years ahead of the rest in 2014, giving them a huge lap-time advantage.

The German manufacturer did the best job and earned the lead, but after just one season, they were facing calls to cave in to changes. They shouldn't feel even the slightest inclination to do so—they are ahead on merit, and it's not their problem their rivals dropped the ball.

Or rather, it shouldn't be their problem. As things stand, they could end up unwittingly being the architects of their own downfall.

It has been widely known for several years that Ecclestone dislikes the current V6 turbo hybrids. With little interest in the reasons they were introduced—greater efficiency and road relevance—he'd be happy to return to the prehistoric V10 era as long as it was nice and loud.

Ferrari too have made it abundantly clear they're not fans of the V6s—probably because they didn't do a very good job of making theirs.

Auto Motor und Sport, per GrandPrix247.com, reports the Scuderia favour switching to a 2.2-litre twin-turbo V8 with a standard energy-recovery system.

Red Bull don't seem enamoured either, with team principal Christian Horner suggesting multiple alternatives. At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix press conference, he floated the idea of keeping the current engines but adding an extra turbo and, like Ferrari, standardising the ERS.

Earlier in November, Autosport reported he said a return to V8s would be the "rational" thing to do. Of course, he may have considered it totally irrational had Renault matched Mercedes.

This trio—Ecclestone, Ferrari and Red Bull—spent much of last season lobbying for changes to the engine regulations, from an alteration to the token system to a wholesale change to the lump itself. ESPN.co.uk reports such a change was to be proposed at a meeting of the Strategy Group in December.

The precise details of what was put forward are unknown, but the lack of celebratory noises emanating from Maranello and Milton Keynes tells us the trio failed to get it approved. This is likely because they have only eight of the 18 Strategy Group votes between them.

The other 10 votes must have gone the other way.

But if Mercedes dominate again in 2015, the balance could tip in the favour of change.

McLaren have a new engine partner for 2015, Honda. A large part of the reason Honda chose to return is because the new, fuel-efficient engine formula offers significant opportunities for technology transfer to its road car division.

At the moment, having not even tested their engine properly, McLaren don't want anything to change.

But if they discover the Honda is no more competitive than the Ferrari and the Renault—and therefore a long way behind the dominant Mercedes—will they still feel the same way?

Adding McLaren's vote to the Ecclestone-Ferrari-Red Bull faction gives them nine of the 18 votes. Up against the nine presumed opposing votes of the FIA, Mercedes, and their engine customers Williams and Force India, it's a tie.

But per Dieter Rencken of Autosport, Ecclestone is believed to have the casting vote.

So it would be goodbye to the efficient, road-relevant V6 turbos and hello to whatever that collective decides on.

It would also be a possible goodbye to the sport trying to move forward into the 21st century and a definite hello to F1 slapping itself in the face with an Atlantic bluefin tuna and whacking yet another dirty great nail into its own coffin.

Should the engine regulations be switched in this way, we would effectively be seeing a coalition of losers changing the rules because they feel they have a divine right to win—and the people in charge helping them to do it.

What possible credibility could the F1 retain if that were to happen? The self-proclaimed pinnacle of motorsport would be reduced to hacking and slashing at its own regulations so favoured teams could succeed.

Mercedes could end up leaving the sport altogether—on principle if not because of the change of engines. Any chance of the Volkswagen Group entering after their "feasibility study" would be over—no manufacturer would commit to entering a series with chaotic rules in which success is punished and failure rewarded.

F1 would survive this happening in the way it survived scandals such as Spygate, Crashgate and the FISA-FOCA dispute of the 1980s. It wouldn't be the end of the world, and grands prix would continue to be held all over the globe.

But it would be yet another glaring signal that something inside F1 is truly rotten. The damage to the sport's reputation would take a long, long time to fix.

And all because Mercedes built a decent engine.

Lewis Hamilton is relaxed about it. Mercedes are at ease, too.

And why not?

Both are newly crowned world champions. Both are at their top of their game. And both stand to dominate Formula One for at least the foreseeable future, if not the years to come.

It is seemingly a match made in heaven—Hamilton has been connected to the company since joining McLaren-Mercedes as a boy—which no doubt explains why both driver and team have been so laid back when it comes to extending the three-year partnership they established at the beginning of 2013.

Lewis Hamilton and Ron Dennis Belgian Grand Prix, Spa Francorchamps (1997). #Formula1 #F1 pic.twitter.com/xKlHZLxra5

— F1 Images (@F1_Images) June 15, 2014

Like all great love stories, there is a sense that when it comes, it will come naturally.

When it feels right it will, you know, just happen.

That universal desire for an organic contract extension, though, has not prevented both parties from setting target dates to thrash out a new deal.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes' team principal, told Reuters (via Sky Sports) last November that team and driver had agreed to delay the renewal of their wedding vows to allow Hamilton to fight for the 2014 drivers' title with a clear mind.

The Austrian was quoted as stating: "On the Monday or Tuesday after Abu Dhabi we will sit down and discuss and hopefully find a solution quickly."

Hamilton echoed his boss' thoughts on the morning after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final race of last season, telling Sky Sports: "Toto was just saying in the coming weeks we'll sit down and hopefully it will be a simple process to go through—a formality."

We made it. Thank you. #TeamLH pic.twitter.com/KDHnIxlDkm

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 23, 2014

Curiously, however, it has now been over two months since Hamilton claimed his second drivers' title and there has still been no movement.

The 30-year-old admitted to Sky Sports' Pete Gill and James Galloway last week that there had been no serious discussions with Mercedes but again reiterated his commitment to the team, saying:

As soon as I left the last race, I was at the factory for a couple of days, but I haven’t sat down with the team.

But, again, we said last year we’re not in a rush. We’re relaxed. The team have acknowledged they want to continue with me and vice versa, so there is no stress.

I’m comfortable and confident and trust that they’re not speaking to anyone else and they know that’s the case with me.

Although Hamilton and Mercedes' apparent commitment to each other is to be admired, the delay in contract negotiations is not only bizarre but at odds with the team's philosophy throughout last season.

The true appeal of Mercedes' title-winning campaign was the team's ability to remain grounded even at the height of their dominance.

Despite having a car that was much faster than any other on the grid, capable of pulling away from the rest of the field at a vast rate of knots, the Silver Arrows remained extremely mindful of the threats posed by the likes of Red Bull and Williams.

And most impressively, the team used that fear of failure and loss to guard against complacency and generate further success.

That was most evident following Hamilton's collision with team-mate Nico Rosberg in the Belgian Grand Prix, which cost the team a one-two finish and allowed Daniel Ricciardo, the closest rival to the Mercedes drivers, to claim his second successive win.

As reported by Autosport's Jonathan Noble, the reaction of Wolff and his fellow members of the Mercedes hierarchy was instantaneous, as both drivers were banned from contacting the team for a number of days.

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

A civil war that would arguably have resulted in the implosion of any other team was quickly diffused by Wolff and Co., and the outfit returned to action at Monza a fortnight later with a renewed sense of unity and focus, winning each of the remaining seven races of the year.

The fear of loss must still be there—if anything, it will have increased—but the intensity that defined the team's 2014, perhaps as a result of their elevation to title-winning status, seems to have diminished.

Paris has been amazing. Loving my first fashion week experience! So much talent here. God bless! pic.twitter.com/tEsBSEHkKJ

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) January 23, 2015

Hamilton's recent change of management—he swapped Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment for Purple PR, according to the Daily Mail's Jonathan McEvoy—may herald an acceleration of contract negotiations.

But Wolff's recent admission to Gazetta dello Sport (h/t The Guardian) that Fernando Alonso, the two-time world champion, and Valtteri Bottas—who is a former Williams colleague and protege of the Mercedes boss—would be front-runners to replace Hamilton is a cause for concern.

While Mercedes' interest in Alonso and Bottas may well be genuine, Wolff's comments were more likely to be a mere ploy to give Hamilton the hurry-up. But even so, the British driver would be well advised to heed the warning.

Dithering, after all, is what led to Michael Schumacher losing his seat to Hamilton at the end of 2012.

According to Press Association Sport (via PlanetF1.com), Schumacher entered the 2012 mid-season break without giving Mercedes a firm indication of whether he wanted to remain at the team for 2013 or would prefer to retire from F1 for the second time.

The silence from the German's camp left the Silver Arrows with no option but to explore alternative options.

Schumacher, as per the source, was aware of the team's discussions with Hamilton, but—much like the rest of us at the time—was presumably skeptical of Mercedes' chances of luring the 2008 world champion from McLaren.

When the Silver Arrows did seal the signing of Hamilton, however, Schumacher was left in the cold.

As Hamilton's signing was hailed as a major coup, the seven-time world champion faced a humiliating seven days—Sauber, of all teams, confirmed their interest in signing Schumacher to Bild (via Sky Sports)—before announcing his retirement ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD0iQmv1Y2U

Mercedes, clearly, are no longer the team they were in 2012, and Hamilton is far from the declining force that Schumacher was either.

Yet the organisation's apparent lack of hesitation when it came to dumping the most successful driver the sport has ever seen should serve as a lesson as Hamilton continues to procrastinate.

As Wolff was at pains to prove after the Belgian GP, no man is bigger than the team. And no driver is irreplaceable when that team has the fastest car in F1.

You know where that dotted line is, Lewis.

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There was a moment in the immediate aftermath of last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that felt very much like closure to Formula One's latest great rivalry.

Less than 10 minutes after crossing the finish line to claim his second drivers' title, Lewis Hamilton took a seat in the cool-down room ahead of the podium ceremony.

Still wearing his crash helmet—his emotions shielded from the watching world—Hamilton bowed his head and took the opportunity to reflect on his achievement, his season and his overdue return to world champion status.

Having had his moment of privacy interrupted by Valtteri Bottas, the Williams driver who offered his congratulations, Hamilton returned to his feet, removed his headgear and dabbed his eyes with a towel before receiving further plaudits.

From Toto Wolff, his Mercedes team principal. From Felipe Massa, the man he pipped to the championship in such dramatic circumstances in 2008.

And from Nico Rosberg, the 2014 runner-up.

A great show of class as Rosberg congratulates @MercedesAMGF1 team mate and 2014 champion Hamilton #AbuDhabiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ETSXLf3D2T

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 23, 2014

Rosberg, having finished a disappointing 14th in the final race of the season, had no right to be in that room, but he had the grace to seek out Hamilton and extend his compliments to the new world champion.

So there they stood—these friends, these team-mates, these rivals—embracing, patting shoulders and backs and exchanging words of thanks.

Tough end.Would have loved to fight til last corner. Congrats, lewis.u deserve the title. Special year with the team. pic.twitter.com/RHzCFvtK3n

— Nico Rosberg (@NicoRosberg) November 23, 2014

And then Rosberg took off into the night, into the shadows—no doubt to dissect his campaign and analyse where it all went wrong—as Hamilton headed in the opposite direction toward the podium, the champagne and all those bright lights.

After 19 grands prix of almost exclusive racing between the pair, finally the battle was over. We had a winner and a loser, a champion and a nearly man.

We made it. Thank you. #TeamLH pic.twitter.com/KDHnIxlDkm

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 23, 2014

It felt like the end, but it is likely to be just the start of this particular rivalry.

With the technical regulations remaining stable for 2015, it is almost certain that Mercedes will maintain their huge pace advantage over the rest of the field, which will make the fight for the drivers' crown a two-horse race once again.

And although the prospect of a sequel to 2014 may be an unattractive one—we need a more competitive F1, and besides, last season was glorious enough to stand alone as a one-off—there will be some fascinating differences in the dynamics between Rosberg and Hamilton as they commence Round 2 in 2015.

Just as the new cars are set to be expansions of their predecessors, the Mercedes drivers will be forced to evolve from last season to this one.

The beauty of a head-to-head battle at the summit of a given sport is that every element of an athlete's repertoire is gradually exposed over time. In this case, it meant that by the end of last season, everyone had a solid understanding of both men's credentials and, crucially, their weaknesses—no more so than Hamilton and Rosberg themselves.

For Nico struggling to manage his hard tyres in low-grip conditions, there was Lewis unable to be at one with his brake pedal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfMGDY-LgwY

For Lewis's blunted pace over a single flying lap, there was Nico's fragility in wheel-to-wheel combat.

The key to inter-team supremacy at Mercedes—and indeed the world title—in 2015, then, is which of the two can maintain all that was good about their 2014 campaign while suppressing their individual limitations.

That task is almost certainly more simple for Hamilton on the back of a year that saw him win 11 races and break his personal-best record for consecutive grand prix victories on two separate occasions.

What made his second title-winning campaign all the more impressive was the widespread perception that the new-spec regulations and their emphasis on car conservation were supposedly unsuited to the Briton's driving style, yet he almost instantly proved his doubters wrong.

Now with championship No. 2 in the bag, Hamilton should also cut a more relaxed, self-assured figure in 2015, although this admittedly could carry its own pitfalls. One of the central factors behind his success last season, after all, was his unflinching focus and his ability to divide his personal life and his professional life.

Hamilton tends to perform at his best on-track when things are stable at home—his mid-career crisis in 2011 coincided with a high-profile split from girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger—and it is imperative that he retains that equilibrium this year.

And what of those braking problems and that bizarre loss of outright speed? Those issues are correlated, which should mean some fine-tuning of his use of the brakes should see Hamilton regain his place as the fastest driver in F1.

That would be bad news for Rosberg, who drove outstandingly well for much of 2014—taking five excellent wins—but found that his best was not quite good enough.

It is unclear just how much he can improve, too, although his first experience of a title battle in 2014 should make him more of a more polished driver, and one better equipped to deal with the emotional and psychological pressures, in 2015.

The German's cerebral, cunning approach to racing makes him an everlasting threat to the purer Hamilton, but Rosberg would be well advised to take a leaf out of his team-mate's book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW0QXEgS0GA

While the 29-year-old is as good as anyone as far as managing his machinery is concerned, it became increasingly obvious as 2014 progressed that Rosberg lacks Hamilton's conviction in battle as well as his feel for a racing car.

The fact that both these traits are very much down to an individual driver's natural instincts behind the wheel makes it difficult to imagine just how Rosberg can begin to close the gap to Hamilton, never mind match his team-mate, which could leave him with no option but to rely on the tried and tested—yet ultimately unsuccessful—methods of a year ago.

There will be a sense of deja vu when the 2015 season gets underway at Melbourne's Albert Park in March.

Mercedes will once again have the fastest car by a distance, and it will be left to Hamilton and Rosberg to blow the opposition, and one another, away.

It is, in many ways, the battle that nobody wants but the one we all crave as the Silver Arrows pair put to one side the good feelings of that pre-podium room in Abu Dhabi and push each other, and themselves, to and beyond the limit once more.

Last year was just the beginning. 

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Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton was named BBC Sports Personality Of The Year, but not everybody was happy with the decision.  

Many felt that golfer Rory McIlroy should have won the award after winning two majors and helping Europe win the Ryder Cup. 

That was the opinion of notoriously outspoken footballer Joey Barton, but he also offered up a more controversial reason as to why Hamilton should not have won the award, suggesting he should not have even been eligible.

Watch the moment Lewis Hamilton is voted @BBCSPOTY winner 2014 http://t.co/e7UcqmIv4h #SPOTY pic.twitter.com/IxeOrds3hL

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) December 14, 2014

Can't believe they gave SPOTY to Hamilton. 1. Formula 1 is the most boring sport ever. 2. He brought a dog with him. 3. He's a tax exile.

— Joey Barton (@Joey7Barton) December 15, 2014

McIlroy, wins multiple golf Majors and Ryder Cup. Froch, boxing World champion. In fact every other nominee was more deserving the Hamilton.

— Joey Barton (@Joey7Barton) December 15, 2014

Tax exile's should be exempt from winning trophies paid and voted for by the tax/licence payer.

— Joey Barton (@Joey7Barton) December 15, 2014

Hamilton was giving everything by this country then moves to tax free country as soon as he starts earning big money.

— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) December 15, 2014

The accusations of being a tax exile are not new to Hamilton, and indeed the driver tackled the controversy just this weekend. 

He told The Sunday Times' Style magazine, as per The Independent:

People moan and say, 'He doesn't live in the country, but he's happy to raise the flag'. It doesn't matter what country you live in. I was born here, man.

What people don’t realise is that I pay tax here, but I don’t earn all my money here. I race in 19 different countries, so I earn my money in 20 different places and I pay tax in several different places, and I pay a lot here as well.

I am contributing to the country and, not only that, I help to keep a team of more than 1,000 people employed.

Hamilton moved to Switzerland in 2007 before relocating to Monaco in 2012 after complaining that his life in Zurich was "a bit boring," according to Reuters' Alan Baldwin.

The first act of Lewis Hamilton's Formula One career opened with such promise. In 2007, he won four races and nearly stole the title from his more experienced rivals, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. The following year, he did win at the final corner of the final lap of the final race.

But then followed a long second act, where Hamilton's resolve was tested both professionally and personally. Four more seasons at McLaren did not yield a finish higher than fourth in the drivers' championship.

A surprising move to Mercedes for 2013 showed flashes of promise—five pole positions, a win in Hungary—but also more of the same.

Before the 2014 season, I questioned whether Hamilton was at the same level as Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, as the best drivers of the current generation. I concluded that, at that moment, he was not. He was not known for dragging subpar cars to finishes they did not deserve, like Alonso, or for a clinical commitment to his craft, like Vettel.

Rather, Hamilton was known for his celebrity girlfriend and his flashy lifestyle—and for the effect those elements could have on his driving, per Tom Cary of The Telegraph.

Me & my lady @NicoleScherzy at the @BritishGQ Awards last night #GQ #SportsmanOfTheYear #blessed pic.twitter.com/MQHcrLs1VM

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) September 3, 2014

But act three began, as these things sometimes do, with a change to the engine regulations. From preseason testing, it was clear that the Mercedes F1 W05 Hybrid was the class of the field. In a throwback to 1961, when Ferrari got the jump on their rivals in the first year of a new engine formula, Hamilton's only serious competition for the 2014 drivers' title was his teammate, Nico Rosberg.

This year, Hamilton stayed focused, refusing to let small mistakes in qualifying here—or Rosberg ramming into him there—affect his entire season.

In Monaco, with Hamilton leading the championship, Rosberg went off at Mirabeau at the end of qualifying—perhaps on purpose, perhaps not—ruining Hamilton's final hot lap. That gave Rosberg pole position and a huge advantage around Monaco's narrow streets.

The German went on to win the race, beginning a string of seven races where Hamilton won just once. By the end of the Belgian Grand Prix, where he retired after Rosberg clipped his tyre at Les Combes, Hamilton was 29 points behind his rival with just seven races remaining.

Have Hamilton and Rosberg reached the point of no return? http://t.co/vXKc4behB7 (Pic: Getty) pic.twitter.com/EB3Qf9WTB6

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) August 25, 2014

From that point, though, Hamilton left no doubt about who was the better driver. He reeled off five straight wins, giving himself a chance to clinch the title in Brazil with one race to spare. Although Rosberg controlled the race at Interlagos from start to finish, Hamilton survived a spin to finish second, meaning first or second at the final race would be good enough for the title.

Rosberg qualified on pole in Abu Dhabi, but it was Hamilton who got the better start in the race. Even before Rosberg's car started to fail, Hamilton was already darting off into the setting sun, worried more about getting his car to the finish than about Rosberg.

The win in Abu Dhabi placed an exclamation point on a brilliant season that saw Hamilton win 11 of 19 races, while Rosberg won just five.

While Alonso and Vettel struggled—the first with an uncompetitive car, the second with a very competitive teammate—Hamilton dominated. Yes, the Brit was given the best car on the grid, but that alone did not guarantee a title. He still had to beat Rosberg and, more importantly, he showed the maturity that has been lacking at times in his career.

I'm focused on 1 thing & 1 thing only right now....Winning this championship!! I am committed 100% to @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/Vmbqor9dOK

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) October 9, 2014

Before this season, there was an argument to be made that Hamilton had peaked too early. Could he ever live up to the promise he showed in coming this close to winning two championships in his first two seasons?

The answer, we now know, is yes. Hamilton also showed that he is every bit a match for Alonso, Vettel and anyone else currently racing.

But where does Hamilton sit among the all-time greats?

Earlier this year, we ranked all 32 world champions. At the time, Hamilton was—somewhat surprisingly, given his single title—tied for 11th with Nelson Piquet, just behind Niki Lauda, one of his bosses at Mercedes, and Alonso.

The rankings attempted to compare drivers across eras by using percentages and per-race statistics rather than absolute values (since the early seasons had far fewer races).

Hamilton's fantastic season, coupled with Alonso's struggles, vaulted the Brit into ninth place, ahead of Lauda, with Alonso falling to 12th.

With 33 wins, Hamilton is now fifth on the all-time list. Even considering he has started far more races than men like Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio and Jim Clark, Hamilton still ranks ninth among the champions in winning percentage.

Of course Hamilton could easily drop again with a couple lean years or a whimpering finish to his career—think Michael Schumacher's Mercedes comeback. But right now, that does not seem likely. Hamilton will be 30 years old when the 2015 season starts, but his future has as much promise as it did when he broke into the sport at 22.

Mercedes should have the best car by a substantial margin again next year, and Hamilton is already a heavy favourite to repeat as champion.

It is not a stretch to imagine Hamilton adding one or two more titles—and who knows how many victories—by the end of his career.

In that case, we will not be discussing Hamilton's position among the drivers of his generation, but rather among the very best drivers in history. He is already on the cusp of that discussion—maintaining his current form for a few more seasons will push him over the edge.

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