It was not the lost points that the Austrian was worried about, but the possible impact on the future development programme for the W12 triggered by the cost of the damage. Having taken the wreck apart in Brackley the team has estimated that the final bill will be around £1 million.

It’s an extraordinary notion that mighty Mercedes has to fret about paying for broken parts – engineering chief Andrew Shovlin even highlighted the front wing that was nudged into the tyres by Lewis Hamilton – but the episode highlights just how pressured the top teams are in this new era of FIA financial regulations.

The requirement to spend less than $145m in 2021 on developing, building and running their cars had led to major changes for Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari, the three biggest spenders. They’ve a

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