“I would like to think it’s focused on the track,” Hamilton said how important mind games are for the championship. “I’m not trying to play mind games with Nico, he’s a very, very intelligent driver. You talk about mind games, we’re not playing mind games but every time you go faster that has an effect on the mind. Inevitably you say something and people can interpret that as mind games. But this year we are fierce competitors and going to be head to head for hopefully the rest of the year so hopefully whoever can keep their head more – and most – will probably come out on top.”

The title fight between the Mercedes team-mates this season has been painted as a thoroughbred racer, Hamilton, against a calculated thinker, Rosberg. But having seen watched Mercedes and his team-mate develop this year Hamilton does not believe that assessment is necessarily accurate.

“Me and Nico generally have the same limitations, we have the same driving style, so we push the car in the same direction. At the moment we always want more downforce, but then you give us more downforce we’ll go faster and then we’ll need more downforce again. It’s a constant evolution and there’s no real end to it.

“We are constantly working on the car, we are always improving. Week by week there will be something. Naturally for all us drivers, whatever package we have, we take that package to the limit and we always found what the limitation is and move it forward.”