The battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at the sharp end of Formula 1 has come alive far too late in the season.
Hamilton became champion some time ago, and no one can take that away from him, but if Rosberg had produced performances and results of this nature in the middle of the year, Hamilton would have found himself in serious trouble.
For three grands prix in succession Hamilton has been unable to beat his Mercedes team-mate, and but for a throttle pedal damper failure in Russia and a "gust of wind" (and too much throttle on a damp kerb) in the United States, Rosberg could quite easily have made Hamilton taste defeat in the last five races.