Lewis Hamilton was defiant after he was completely outshone by Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg throughout the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. But the reigning world champion should be concerned. Rosberg has never been better placed to win his first Formula 1 world title.
Rosberg put together the best race weekend of his F1 career. After a crash in first practice, he dialled the car in, beat Hamilton by a staggering 0.704 seconds in qualifying and then dominated the race from the front to snatch the championship lead for the first time this side of the summer break.
Some may say we've been here before. After the Belgian GP in 2014 Rosberg led Hamilton by 29 points but his title bid unravelled.
In Italy that year he cracked under pressure from Hamilton to gift his team-mate the victory. A broken wiring loom let him down in Singapore, when he was set to start second, but two races later in Japan he could not keep Hamilton at bay in the wet and lost the win.
At the following race in Russia he took the lead at the start but locked up heavily into the second corner, handing another victory to Hamilton. And in the United States, Hamilton passed Rosberg again on track after the German had started from pole. He then found himself 24 points behind and the title was ultimately lost.
But this time appears to be different, and he is aided now by having the experience to deal with the pressure of the title fight.
Rosberg is doing the simple things right. Focus on the process, get that nailed and the end goal will come. Worry about the end goal and you leave yourself exposed to cracking under pressure.
You often hear sportsmen and women saying 'I'm taking it one step/race/game at a time' when asked about their championship aspirations.
That's the battle an elite athlete constantly faces. It's easier to say than to do, but the fact that they are constantly saying it proves they are at least trying to get into that mindset.
Rosberg has been trotting those lines out all season. Every time he's asked about a momentum shift in the championship or the impact of a result on the title, he plays a very straight bat.
He is focusing on the weekend, he says. The race win on that given Sunday is all that matters, he adds. Only this time, at least based on the evidence of the races since the summer break, he is doing exactly as he says.
It would be fair to say that Rosberg has capitalised on Hamilton not having a great run of late. Last year Hamilton returned from the summer break and won five of the next six races. Rosberg managed three seconds, a fourth and two non-finishes in that period.
This time around, Hamilton had to contend with a flurry of engine penalties (the result of poor reliability early in the season) at Spa, which made it easy for Rosberg to win.
The reigning world champion then had problems at the start at Monza, allowing Rosberg to capitalise again.
And in Singapore a combination of factors meant Hamilton didn't find the right set-up for the race, and was never in with a shot at the win.
But at each of those races Rosberg did not put a foot wrong. There have been times in the past where he hasn't always taken his chances when Hamilton has struggled - the 2015 Hungarian GP, in which he slumped to eighth, is a prime example - but he has done everything he can in the last three races and taken a maximum haul.
His performance in Singapore was particularly impressive.
"I have known Nico since 2013 and that is the best Nico Rosberg I have ever seen throughout the weekend since then," reckoned Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
"We have the tendency of saying that Lewis has awesome pace, and this is what we have seen with Nico this weekend, he was just blindingly fast."
We have never seen Hamilton so far behind Rosberg in qualifying. A gap of 0.704s is huge, even though it was exacerbated by Hamilton's practice woes.
But a look at the statistics shows just how impressive Rosberg has been on pure pace in comparison to his team-mate this term.
His 'supertime' – the average of his event's fastest lap converted to a percentage, with 100% representing the outright fastest – this year after 15 races is 100.174% compared to Hamilton's 100.431%. At the same point last year, the stats were reversed with Hamilton on 100.139% and Rosberg 100.402%.
Rosberg also ended last season the stronger of the pair as Hamilton tailed off. Some of that can be put down to the fact that Hamilton had won the title with three races remaining, but Rosberg will still take confidence from having won those grands prix.
Wolff, as you would expect, was keen to play down any talk of momentum switches.
"We have the tendency of talking one up and the other one down," he said. "We have had that for three years, since the two of them have been fighting for the championship, we have seen those waves.
"I remember talking about Lewis's momentum a couple of weeks ago and suddenly we have this mega Nico weekend and in two weeks we are going to see whether that changes or stays the same in Malaysia."
But Singapore was a clear point in this title battle where Rosberg re-emerged as a genuine contender.
The potential remains for more swings in momentum. After the Malaysian GP, Hamilton will be the favourite in Japan and the United States, where he has won for the past two seasons. At present it's only an eight-point deficit and there are six races to go – 150 points are on the table.
The situation isn't bleak for Hamilton, whose self-belief certainly remains high enough for him to feel he can win it. But while Rosberg has previously tended to struggle to turn a situation around when things go wrong, this time he is arguably in the best place he's ever been mentally.
After being beaten by Hamilton in the four races before the summer break, Rosberg regrouped in August and has yet to put a foot wrong since.
His Friday crash in Singapore, though minor, had the potential to push him off balance and leave him susceptible to a charge from Hamilton, but Rosberg recovered very quickly.
He was close to flawless in the remaining sessions before dictating the race and dealing with pressure from Daniel Ricciardo in the closing stages.
The recovery was reminiscent of something Sebastian Vettel has done on several occasions – putting a mistake out of his mind and going on to dominate.
Rosberg has the momentum and a team-mate who appears a bit lost at the moment. After qualifying third in Singapore Hamilton said: "I've kind of been on the back foot all year long."
It would be fair to say he has had the lion's share of the engine woes and has had several bad starts, most recently in Singapore.
Rosberg has had difficulties, too, but Hamilton has suffered more. From his seven pole positions, only twice has the world champion led after the first lap. In terms of pole-to-win conversion, Hamilton's rate is 43% compared to Rosberg's 71%.
"Considering I have had a lot of pole positions, I have lost the races from the starts," said Hamilton. "You do all the work during the weekend and then those two seconds, or whatever it is, have determined some of the races for me.
"Would I prefer my clutch not to have inconsistencies? For sure, but that is not going to change any time soon."
Hamilton has had to overcome several difficulties and did so in the run-up to the summer break when he turned a 43-point deficit into a 19-point lead. That's impressive. But he will not have expected Rosberg to respond with such a hot streak after the break.
Rosberg has the advantage of being able to take an upgraded engine, should Mercedes choose to use its remaining tokens, without being hit with a penalty. Hamilton does not have the same luxury.
The German has won more than half the races this year, with his tally of eight (so far) his highest ever. No driver has previously won eight grands prix in a season and not gone on to win the title, even if we are in unchartered territory of this being the longest season ever with 21 grands prix.
Hamilton will care little about the statistics, after the Singapore race saying: "I'm still in the fight and I'm going to give it everything I've got."
But there is no doubt he faces his biggest challenge yet if he's to win his fourth world title this year.
Lewis Hamilton was defiant after he was completely outshone by Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg throughout the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. But the reigning world champion should be concerned. Rosberg has never been better placed to win his first Formula 1 world title.
Rosberg put together the best race weekend of his F1 career. After a crash in first practice, he dialled the car in, beat Hamilton by a staggering 0.704 seconds in qualifying and then dominated the race from the front to snatch the championship lead for the first time this side of the summer break.
Some may say we've been here before. After the Belgian GP in 2014 Rosberg led Hamilton by 29 points but his title bid unravelled.
In Italy that year he cracked under pressure from Hamilton to gift his team-mate the victory. A broken wiring loom let him down in Singapore, when he was set to start second, but two races later in Japan he could not keep Hamilton at bay in the wet and lost the win.
At the following race in Russia he took the lead at the start but locked up heavily into the second corner, handing another victory to Hamilton. And in the United States, Hamilton passed Rosberg again on track after the German had started from pole. He then found himself 24 points behind and the title was ultimately lost.
But this time appears to be different, and he is aided now by having the experience to deal with the pressure of the title fight.
Rosberg is doing the simple things right. Focus on the process, get that nailed and the end goal will come. Worry about the end goal and you leave yourself exposed to cracking under pressure.
You often hear sportsmen and women saying 'I'm taking it one step/race/game at a time' when asked about their championship aspirations.
That's the battle an elite athlete constantly faces. It's easier to say than to do, but the fact that they are constantly saying it proves they are at least trying to get into that mindset.
Rosberg has been trotting those lines out all season. Every time he's asked about a momentum shift in the championship or the impact of a result on the title, he plays a very straight bat.
He is focusing on the weekend, he says. The race win on that given Sunday is all that matters, he adds. Only this time, at least based on the evidence of the races since the summer break, he is doing exactly as he says.
It would be fair to say that Rosberg has capitalised on Hamilton not having a great run of late. Last year Hamilton returned from the summer break and won five of the next six races. Rosberg managed three seconds, a fourth and two non-finishes in that period.
This time around, Hamilton had to contend with a flurry of engine penalties (the result of poor reliability early in the season) at Spa, which made it easy for Rosberg to win.
The reigning world champion then had problems at the start at Monza, allowing Rosberg to capitalise again.
And in Singapore a combination of factors meant Hamilton didn't find the right set-up for the race, and was never in with a shot at the win.
But at each of those races Rosberg did not put a foot wrong. There have been times in the past where he hasn't always taken his chances when Hamilton has struggled - the 2015 Hungarian GP, in which he slumped to eighth, is a prime example - but he has done everything he can in the last three races and taken a maximum haul.
His performance in Singapore was particularly impressive.
"I have known Nico since 2013 and that is the best Nico Rosberg I have ever seen throughout the weekend since then," reckoned Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
"We have the tendency of saying that Lewis has awesome pace, and this is what we have seen with Nico this weekend, he was just blindingly fast."
We have never seen Hamilton so far behind Rosberg in qualifying. A gap of 0.704s is huge, even though it was exacerbated by Hamilton's practice woes.
But a look at the statistics shows just how impressive Rosberg has been on pure pace in comparison to his team-mate this term.
His 'supertime' – the average of his event's fastest lap converted to a percentage, with 100% representing the outright fastest – this year after 15 races is 100.174% compared to Hamilton's 100.431%. At the same point last year, the stats were reversed with Hamilton on 100.139% and Rosberg 100.402%.
Rosberg also ended last season the stronger of the pair as Hamilton tailed off. Some of that can be put down to the fact that Hamilton had won the title with three races remaining, but Rosberg will still take confidence from having won those grands prix.
Wolff, as you would expect, was keen to play down any talk of momentum switches.
"We have the tendency of talking one up and the other one down," he said. "We have had that for three years, since the two of them have been fighting for the championship, we have seen those waves.
"I remember talking about Lewis's momentum a couple of weeks ago and suddenly we have this mega Nico weekend and in two weeks we are going to see whether that changes or stays the same in Malaysia."
But Singapore was a clear point in this title battle where Rosberg re-emerged as a genuine contender.
The potential remains for more swings in momentum. After the Malaysian GP, Hamilton will be the favourite in Japan and the United States, where he has won for the past two seasons. At present it's only an eight-point deficit and there are six races to go – 150 points are on the table.
The situation isn't bleak for Hamilton, whose self-belief certainly remains high enough for him to feel he can win it. But while Rosberg has previously tended to struggle to turn a situation around when things go wrong, this time he is arguably in the best place he's ever been mentally.
After being beaten by Hamilton in the four races before the summer break, Rosberg regrouped in August and has yet to put a foot wrong since.
His Friday crash in Singapore, though minor, had the potential to push him off balance and leave him susceptible to a charge from Hamilton, but Rosberg recovered very quickly.
He was close to flawless in the remaining sessions before dictating the race and dealing with pressure from Daniel Ricciardo in the closing stages.
The recovery was reminiscent of something Sebastian Vettel has done on several occasions – putting a mistake out of his mind and going on to dominate.
Rosberg has the momentum and a team-mate who appears a bit lost at the moment. After qualifying third in Singapore Hamilton said: "I've kind of been on the back foot all year long."
It would be fair to say he has had the lion's share of the engine woes and has had several bad starts, most recently in Singapore.
Rosberg has had difficulties, too, but Hamilton has suffered more. From his seven pole positions, only twice has the world champion led after the first lap. In terms of pole-to-win conversion, Hamilton's rate is 43% compared to Rosberg's 71%.
"Considering I have had a lot of pole positions, I have lost the races from the starts," said Hamilton. "You do all the work during the weekend and then those two seconds, or whatever it is, have determined some of the races for me.
"Would I prefer my clutch not to have inconsistencies? For sure, but that is not going to change any time soon."
Hamilton has had to overcome several difficulties and did so in the run-up to the summer break when he turned a 43-point deficit into a 19-point lead. That's impressive. But he will not have expected Rosberg to respond with such a hot streak after the break.
Rosberg has the advantage of being able to take an upgraded engine, should Mercedes choose to use its remaining tokens, without being hit with a penalty. Hamilton does not have the same luxury.
The German has won more than half the races this year, with his tally of eight (so far) his highest ever. No driver has previously won eight grands prix in a season and not gone on to win the title, even if we are in unchartered territory of this being the longest season ever with 21 grands prix.
Hamilton will care little about the statistics, after the Singapore race saying: "I'm still in the fight and I'm going to give it everything I've got."
But there is no doubt he faces his biggest challenge yet if he's to win his fourth world title this year.