Oh my God, how close did McLaren come to blowing that?! They couldn't have been closer. But look at the last few laps of the Brazilian GP in detail and it's so easy to see why.
There were raised eyebrows when Lewis qualified fourth, on the wrong side of the grid. "I don't understand that." one ex-driver said to me in the press room. "People have been talking about the option tyre being a bit marginal and if I was Lewis I'd have wanted them to fuel me light to get me on pole and out of harm's way.
"I'd do a short first stint on the option, then come in early. Okay, I'd get passed but then I'd have two long stints on the prime tyre. I'd be a bit out of sync but with the pace that McLaren's got, a one-armed blind man couldn't fail to get it home in the first five. But look at what he's got to do now; he's got that tight first corner where there's always aggro and he's got his old buddy Alonso right up his chuff. Couldn't really be worse."
There was no shortage of people suggesting that Fernando's first lap intentions might be less than honourable. The Spanish had already been busy with a YouTube clip showing their interpretation of how he would punt Lewis off at Turn 4.