If our worst fears are realised this weekend and rival teams haven't closed the gap sufficiently to mount a continued challenge to Mercedes, the one hope is that over the coming months we will be entertained by the Silver Arrows drivers going at one another 'hammer and tongs'.

As we continue to ponder whether Nico Rosberg's late summer revival in 2015 marked a genuine resurgence or whether Lewis, title won, had eased off, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff assures us that much of the bitterness between his drivers is genuine and that it will spill over again.

"It will get nasty again," he assured the Guardian. "We are going to have some interesting moments on track. But this time I am not trying to control and contain it.

"We accept that they're rivals, competing for a drivers' world championship, which is the essential target for both of them," he added. "But now we all feel more comfortable working with each other."

Whilst everyone recalls the 'cap incident' in Austin last year, Wolff admits that it was at Spa in 2014, when the pair clashed at Les Combes on the opening lap, that the rot set in... resulting in the sort of 'feud' that F1 does best.

"In Spa I thought it was unacceptable and unbearable that the drivers crashed, and risked losing the championship," he admits. “Since then we've won two double world championships, and I've learned that controversy is an important narrative for the team, and for Formula One. So we're letting controversy happen.

"This is all part of the show," he adds, "and we must accept that. It's good for Formula One. When you look at the big boxing matches the fighters create animosity and controversy before the event because that makes people turn on the TV. So we will let these two fight it out on the track. Even though it is within our team. As long as it doesn't endanger team spirit I can accept that it's happening."