Nico Rosberg could live with finishing second to Lewis Hamiton in Malaysia a week ago. Then, he was outperformed by his team-mate on every level. So he did what he always does: regroup, analyse, understand, improve - much to the frustration of Hamilton, who took every opportunity to highlight how much his team-mate had gained from studying his data during the intervening week...
But in Bahrain, defeat was not so easy to take. With the world championship battle a two-horse race - and judging by the rate at which the battling Mercedes duo dropped the chasing pack after the final safety car (24 seconds in just 11 laps) it will remain that way - pressing home your advantage on a given weekend is essential. Rosberg had the strongest hand in a dramatic Bahrain Grand Prix, but didn't play it right and lost out in a thrilling battle.
It was a spectacular grand prix, the antithesis of the 'taxi-cab' racing Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo had again slated in the build-up to the race.