There was a competitive boost and a deeply personal landmark for world champion Lewis Hamilton as he won the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka at the weekend. Victory sent the Briton 48 points clear in the drivers' championship and brought him level with his childhood hero, Ayrton Senna, on 41 Grand Prix wins from one more race start – 162.
That the 30-year-old's achievement came at the circuit where so much of Senna's legend was written brought a measure of added poignancy on a weekend heavy with emotion. This was the first Japanese Grand Prix since the crash last year which took the life of Jules Bianchi. The young French driver's father, in an interview with the BBC, admitted that he was still unable to watch the sport.
“Perhaps in a few months, a few years, I can see again a Grand Prix, I don't know,” said Philippe Bianchi, “but for the moment, it is too difficult.”
Qualifying saw a stark reminder of last year's tragedy when Daniil Kvyat lost control of his Red Bull, which flipped and collided with the barriers on the approach to the hairpin turn. The impact broke off the wheel and sections of the nose and rear of Kvyat's car, but the 21-year-old Russian walked away unharmed and began the race from the pitlane.
More Mercedes
Bouncing back from the disappointment of Singapore, Mercedes produced a 1-2 at Suzuka and also colonised the front row in qualifying, where Nico Rosberg took pole.
According to non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, however, that did not translate into the requisite amount of TV coverage.
“It was funny, to be honest,” said the Austrian after the race. I was watching TV all day long, and funny enough I saw Saubers and a lot of Honda cars, but I don't know why.
“Somebody must do the filming here; I have to ask what's wrong with him. I want to see Bernie next week and ask him what is the reason.”
One way of gaining additional exposure for the rampant Mercedes project would be for its peerless power-trains to be supplied to other leading teams. Such an opportunity seemed to have presented itself when the listless Red Bull made an approach at the British Grand Prix. Mercedes' Toto Wolff had previously indicated that the deal had been nixed as the German marque had not wanted to hand over a competitive boost to a major rival. Lauda, however, says negotiations foundered for more political reasons.
“I have to be clear – [Red Bull team principal] Christian [Horner] and Helmut [Marko] wrote us one letter to say they would like engines,” Lauda told Sky Sports F1. “I said, 'Yes, but first we have to discuss with [Red Bull owner] Mr [Dietrich] Mateschitz because Mateschitz, for whatever reason, never liked Mercedes.
“There is something in the past which I do not know. So I went to see Mateschitz myself because I know him and asked, 'Are you really interested?' And he said 'Yes, but, but, but…'
“And then out of this 'but, but, but' we never continued any talks. So we had to take a decision as Mercedes: where did we go with the engines because are Lotus staying or are they not staying? So we then decided to give Manor the engines.”
End in sight for Lotus turmoil
Many of Red Bull's recent woes have been ascribed to Renault's failure to adapt to the post-2014 era of engine regulations, and the French carmaker has been thought to be preparing its exit from the sport. It is intriguing, then, that the race weekend ended with a statement of intent to buy out one of its ailing partner teams, Lotus.
'Renault Group and Gravity Motorsports S.a.r.l., an affiliate of Genii Capital SA, are pleased to announce the signature of a letter of intent regarding the potential acquisition by Renault of a controlling stake in Lotus F1 Team Ltd,' the statement read. The signature of this Letter of Intent marks Renault's first step towards the project of a Renault Formula 1 team from the 2016 racing season thereby extending 38 years of commitment of the brand to the world's premier motorsport championship series.
'Renault Group and Gravity will work together in the coming weeks to eventually turn this initial undertaking into a definitive transaction provided all terms and conditions are met between them and other interested parties.'
Lotus will soon make a final appearance in the UK's High Court as part of an ongoing insolvency battle with the HMRC, and the move is intended to save the team from administration while also restoring Renault as a manufacturer team.
It was another unusual race for Lotus. The team's freight was late to Suzuka due to payment delays, while they were also locked out of their hospitality facility all week. Press obligations were conducted outside.
Events took a more positive turn on the track as both drivers made it into the points, with Romain Grosjean finishing seventh and Pastor Maldonado eighth.