Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton had been here before. Waging their own private war for victory, they were on a collision course that would have left them disputing the same piece of track before the chequered flag flew at the end of the British Grand Prix. The only difference to the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix earlier in the season was that this time the winner was simply the last man standing.
The bare facts reveal that Rosberg had control of the race when he first detected a minor downshift glitch on lap 20 that was the harbinger of a terminal problem. With Hamilton breezing past his team-mate, who was by then wedged firmly in fourth gear, to take the lead nine laps later, it suggests a win inherited.
But did Rosberg's problem hand Hamilton victory, or did it just hasten the moment when the home favourite would hit the front?
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