The Briton, who had finished fourth in Saudi Arabia, had said: “Red Bull are just as quick in qualifying. They're just as quick as us in the race. Just because we're quick in practice, people just keep coming up with all this this crap.

Was this the weekend momentum shifted decisively in the title race? It is still ridiculously early days, of course. We are only five races into a mammoth 24-race season. And the gap between the two McLaren drivers is only 10 points.