Much was made of Lewis Hamilton's storming performance to go from 10th at the start of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to passing chief title rival Max Verstappen in dramatic fashion to clinch a key win.
It wasn't just the nature in the way he did it - having had to start from the back of the grid on Saturday in the sprint race initially as he progressed throughout the weekend - but the importance of it too. The triumph was crucial to keeping his hopes of a record eighth world championship in his own hands.
But as ever with Formula One, it's not always down to the driver. Having a superior car goes a long way and there is no doubt Hamilton had a pace advantage over everyone which made him look like he was constantly hitting speed boost platforms in Mario Kart.
Lewis Hamilton celebrates winning the Sao Paulo Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen
The Brit's triumph means his hopes of a record eighth world championship are still in his hands
It's no secret that Hamilton had a brand new engine available to him for the race at Interlagos but the performance he gained from it stunned many at a venue where it was suspected Mercedes and Red Bull would be evenly matched.
There may be some chin scratching in relation to how Hamilton's straight-line speed came on the same weekend where his rear wing failed a technical infringement, which led to him having to start from the back of the grid in the sprint race.
However, that's a red herring, as even once Hamilton's car complied with the regulations he was still a rocket ship around the track.
Red Bull though still have their suspicion around the Mercedes' rear wing which they believe flexes too much on a straight, yet fully admit they do not yet have enough evidence for that. It was the reason why Verstappen was caught touching Hamilton's car in parc ferme on Friday after the Brit took pole position for the sprint race before his disqualification.
Verstappen was fined £43,000 for touching Hamilton's rear wing in parc ferme last Friday
The wing could play a factor but that would have also been of benefit to Valtteri Bottas who, while not as talented as Hamilton, was way off his Mercedes team-mate's pace throughout the weekend in Brazil.
In the sprint race on Saturday, Hamilton's top speed was 339km per hour, while Bottas was clocked running at just 303.2. That's not a case of Hamilton just being more brave to have his foot flat on the pedal.
If we get even more technical, you could argue that in terms of the car's set-up, Bottas was perhaps running more wing - which in essence improves the speed a car can carry through a corner through downforce, but in a straight line increases drag and thus slows down the car.
After all, Bottas was also slower than Verstappen in a straight line, whose top speed was 317km per hour in his Honda powered Red Bull, which is not as fast as the Mercedes.
Hamilton's (left) straight line speed was no match for title rivals Red Bull at Interlagos
However, Red Bull boss Christian Horner alluded to how Hamilton was running 'Monaco levels of downforce' which relates to how the grand prix around Monte Carlo requires maximum downforce at the complete sacrifice of top speed.
That means he could not add more wing to the car, so Bottas could not have possibly been running more downforce.
A performance advantage
