Lewis Hamilton has changed his tune, and given his situation it's understandable. No surprise to see the Ferrari drivers towing the party line now that the title truly is beyond them.
The Scuderia were a shambles at Monza with Charles Leclerc knocking Lewis Hamilton down the order before crashing out. Even before the race, Hamilton was fuming about their execution and hinting he needed priority to keep his championship hopes alive. He didn't get it, and at the Madring this weekend he also doesn't have the clear "rules of engagement" he asked for after his run-in with Leclerc at Monza.
Change in approach
Still, there was a noticeable change in his approach on media day in Madrid. The Brit said he'd cleared the air with Leclerc and backed boss Frederic Vasseur amid increased scrutiny of his leadership from the Italian press. Hamilton also claimed he never wanted Ferrari to make him their number one.
And that's the most obvious difference, because he did – but coming across as the cause of division serves no purpose to him now that he needs a miracle to stop Kimi Antonelli. It's like when he partnered George Russell for three years at Mercedes: They got along well because their car wasn't competitive enough to challenge for the highest honours. The same was true with Leclerc last year, in his dismal first Ferrari season.
Competitive streak
And the first time they had a sniff of potential glory? We started to get some tension in radio blasts and quips in the media pen. It always has been, and always will be, the case with Hamilton. He's a team player because he's experienced and wise enough to know by now that it takes a small army all pulling in the same direction to succeed in Formula One.
But once that team play has put him in the position to win, that competitive streak kicks in and he will do everything he can to ensure he's the one who ends up on top. And that's the sort of selfish streak which separates the true greats from those who are very good, but who don't quite have that same edge.
Russell, who is rather meekly being relegated to Antonelli's wingman at Mercedes, could learn a thing or two from his former team-mate.
Russell's mountain to climb
Meanwhile, Russell already has a mountain to climb with 66 points separating him from Antonelli after that galling defeat at Monza. And soon he'll have a grid penalty of his own to serve. It was initially assumed that would happen at Baku later this month, another circuit with long straights where overtaking is more possible. But he also wants to make sure he gets Mercedes' upgraded engine parts when the time comes to take them.
And the word is they may not be ready for Baku and so he might need to wait for the US Grand Prix at Austin in late-October. Antonelli will also have access to the new engine and looks to have enough points in hand to also be able to take it and the penalties it would come with, nullifying any advantage Russell might gain from the upgraded parts. Hard to see how the Brit comes back from this position.
Madrid memories and season finale
From the archive - Villeneuve masterclass: F1's last Madrid race was in 1981 at the Jarama circuit north of the Spanish capital, won by Gilles Villeneuve whose defensive masterclass saw him hold off four faster cars – the top five all separated by just 1.24 seconds.
Fast fact - F1's new iconic corner: La Monumental, the Madring's most eye-catching corner, is more than half-a-kilometre long and is banked at 24 degrees, which is much steeper than Zandvoort's 18-degree final turn.
Inside track - Season finale latest: F1 bosses are set to make a final decision next week on the two remaining Middle East rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the most likely call being to replace them with one race in Europe as a season finale, probably at Imola in Italy. That's despite the likes of Lewis Capaldi, Zara Larsson and Imagine Dragons being announced this week as musical performers for the Abu Dhabi event, in a video posted on the race's official social media accounts.
