I hesitate to boast ‘I told you so’, but I did just that three weeks ago when I felt the alert of an internecine squabble erupting between Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

A solid friendship that had endured from their pally days as kid karters is now shrapnel — having exploded on the back of suspicions that Rosberg, Sunday’s victor, deliberately sabotaged Hamilton’s chances of pole position, and therefore an almost sure-fire win in Monaco.

They distanced themselves emotionally and geographically, many tables apart, at the after-race gala party and that reflection of the bitterness of their feelings, mainly stemming from Hamilton, is bound to be a continuing saga. Enduringly deadly serious team boss Niki Lauda, who had his own problems with flamboyant James Hunt when they vied for the 1976 championship, will no doubt strive to placate matters before the next clash in Canada in two weeks’ time.

And it could well appear upfront as if any bad feelings between the partners, running first and second in the title chase, will have been smoothed over. My feeling is that anybody who believes that will be the case is suffering an acute attack of naivety and the two contestants for the crown will be every bit as fired up, backstage and upfront, as they were in the aftermath of their Monaco set-to.

Their friendship is over and done with. No way back. A gonner. Should we care?

And, dare I say it, the winners will be the likes of us who revel in the risky, give-no-quarter, wheel-to-wheel confrontations of courageous chargers determined to emerge triumphant. Teammates or not. The old saying in grand prix racing, if I may repeat what I have said before, is that the first driver you have to beat is your teammate. It is starkly apparent that is the driving force mantra which holds pride of place in the hearts and minds of Rosberg and Hamilton and whatever Lauda, or anybody else at Mercedes, has to offer as an edict or a cool-it warning will be forgotten when the lights go out and the chequered flag awaits in Montreal.

Hamilton’s former McLaren partner, Jenson Button, forecasts that Lewis, as is his wont, will be fired up for revenge next time out and, for sure, the feuding will continue.

The anxieties on the pit wall will be echoed over the car radios of the two combatants with stern reminders not to over stretch individual boldness or bad feeling and take each other out.

That was the sad situation between champions Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. And while we want to enjoy the closest of racing, with no backing off, we don’t want any dirty tricks to ruin the spectacle.

— The author is a motorsports expert based in the UK