All manner of suggestions have been put forward to explain why Mercedes' car is so much faster than Red Bull's or Ferrari's, after it left the former 49 seconds in its wake yesterday afternoon and very nearly lapped the latter.
Is it a fiendishly clever turbocharger design on the 1.6-litre eco-hybrid V6 engine? A specially developed Petronas fuel worth another 30 bhp? Clever aerodynamics? A massive investment that is even said to outstrip Red Bull's? Or a pair of great drivers who are currently at the very top of their game?
There is probably a fair degree of truth in all of them. But the biggest thing about the latest in a very long line of race-winning Mercedes machines that dates back to the early days of the 20th century is that the design is the best integrated and gives the drivers huge confidence.
Whatever the answer, Mercedes' non-executive chairman, Niki Lauda, isn't really bothered. He's just savouring the way that a long-hatched plan has come together. And he's delighted that the team are even more dominant than Red Bull were in their heyday.
"If we're 50 seconds in the lead to the third guy [Daniel Ricciardo] and pushing each other from the first lap to the last, much more we cannot deliver, to the sport and to everybody else," he said last night in the wake of a fourth consecutive Mercedes one-two finish to a grand prix.
