Is a Mercedes civil war inevitable?

Lewis Hamilton versus Nico Rosberg. The personal duel between these team-mates has dominated Formula 1 for two straight seasons, as Mercedes has vanquished all rivals.

All relationships are by nature unique, but the historic pattern among those who find themselves in a similar position to F1's current chief protagonists tends toward the destructive.

Probably the most famous examples are the bitter fight between Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet at Williams in 1987, and the Alain Prost versus Ayrton Senna civil war that broke out at McLaren two years later.

But an exclusive world championship battle is not an essential ingredient for intra-team tension. In fact, the fundamental nature of this dynamic is taut, simply because of the need to reconcile personal ambition with the collaborative approach necessary to achieve it.

Sometimes, people just don't get on in such intense and competitive working environments. Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger were Ferrari team-mates for three seasons in the mid-90s, then Alesi left for Benetton and was gutted when Berger came onboard too. They never fought for a world championship...

Other times, internal politics clouds the picture. Niki Lauda wasn't too happy with the way Carlos Reutemann and Ferrari grew closer while Lauda recovered from his horrific Nurburgring crash injuries in 1976, and so they clashed.

The Hamilton-Rosberg dynamic has always veered towards animosity since they began fighting each other for the world championship, whether it be because of something one or the other has said or done, or because of resentment over the way the team has dealt with a particular controversy.

Fight for supremacy has flared up on track - most notoriously at Spa in '14 © LAT

Mercedes is cast in the role of strict headmaster, trying to pull unruly pupils into line. It sets boundaries the drivers inevitably push against: when and when not to use particular engine settings, how sandbagging in practice is not acceptable, what constitutes acceptable etiquette in wheel-to-wheel combat, how and when alternative strategies are permitted.

Mercedes is trying to balance its own interests against those of 'the show', and has gone to great effort to keep a lid on the cauldron that bubbles behind the scenes. But the lid always blows off eventually - Monaco 2014, Spa 2014, Austin 2015. The result is always the same: one upset driver, followed by both sniping at each other, playing psychological games to gain the upper hand.

When they engage in this sort of mental warfare, whether it be Rosberg throwing his podium cap back in Hamilton's face following a sequence of tough wheel-to-wheel battles on circuit, or Hamilton mocking Rosberg for blaming wind for falling off the track and losing a victory, their on-track battles become more intense, and more interesting to watch.

It feels as though their relationship as team-mates is inexorably drawn towards implosion, fuelled by the one burning desire that trumps all others in F1 - to become world champion.

Does it have to be this way? Damon Hill, who won the 1996 title after an amicable intra-team battle with Jacques Villeneueve at Williams is an exception to the rule, but he only spent one season as team-mate to the French-Canadian.

He reckons it all depends on the individuals concerned.

"It depends on the personalities," he says. "Some are very adept at playing gamesmanship, and others aren't. And if they do try and play it backfires on them.

Hill's rivalry with Williams team-mate Villeneuve was competitive but less fiery © LAT

"I would be more like Nico, and Jacques would be more like Lewis. I think Lewis is more prone to saying something that would possibly inflame the other guy, and it will do if you let it. I think Nico lets that happen, and when he lets that happen he's suffered, then Lewis has done the job.

"I think he's learned from that. I see Nico now saying 'I'm not going to play that game; now what are you going to do?' That's where I think he's savvied up a bit.

"Everybody has rivalries, in whatever they do, whether they're a racing driver, an artist, a journalist. We're interested in how we're supposed to deal with that and still prevail. How do we not get dragged down into the gutter?

"And that's actually the challenge, because I think they both dragged themselves down last year. If you're not careful that's how it goes. It spirals out of control and you both look cheap, childish and petulant."

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff insists there are no issues between his two drivers, and is right to suggest their rivalry is healthy for F1, but he also has to work hard to ensure the duo do not overstep the mark to the detriment of his team.

This situation is probably easier for Hamilton to handle, because he has emerged from each skirmish the overall victor. For Rosberg, the tightrope is trickier to walk, because he has tended to do better when the atmosphere is tense and Hamilton appears less relaxed.

Both have learned the hard way that you cannot really be friends with the person you are fighting against to achieve your dreams. The challenge is doing everything it takes to win, without jeopardising the infrastructure that makes that fight possible in the first place.

Further improvements from Ferrari could make life more difficult, especially for Rosberg © LAT

Given he heads into 2016 with his current Mercedes contract due to expire, Rosberg stands at an important crossroads. Does he go all out to win his first world title, possibly sacrificing his relationships with Hamilton and the team if necessary? Or does he play quietly, trying to come out on top while dutifully playing the team game in hope of earning a new deal?

If Ferrari is more competitive this year, the pressure to take the latter approach will be greater. Trouble is, Hamilton has tended to come out on top when the atmosphere at Mercedes is calm.

On the flipside, how will Hamilton react if Rosberg maintains his late-2015 form and gains an early edge? Will he simply rely on natural ability to win the day, or will he have to "play gamesmanship" to derail his rival?

"Lewis is a formidable challenger, and there's not a doubt in his mind," adds Hill. "There's less doubt in Nico's mind. I think there was a doubt, but that last run dispelled that. It was very impressive. For a beaten guy, that was a sign saying 'I'm not dead yet'.

"It's not just about the driving - everyone knows you can drive a car; it's about how you cope.

"You've got to be careful. It doesn't matter who you are or what level you've got to, if you start throwing your weight around people react negatively to that kind of behaviour and attitude. It's a skill and an art.

"This is what's interesting about humans. We imagine ourselves in those situations - how would we behave? What would we do? It's human drama."

It will be fascinating to see how the dynamic plays out. Whichever way it goes, it will remind us that Formula 1, though driven by technology and science, remains a very human sport at its core.