“The track is fairly bumpy, so there’s a greater premium placed on finding a good, driveable balance. The track itself is situated at fairly high altitude, which has a knock-on effect on engine horsepower and downforce, both of which are a little lower than at a regular circuit. For this race, we’ll also be looking at the possibility of running Lewis’s engine in a safer setting so it has a bit more margin than normal. It’s something we do throughout the season but, clearly, there’s a greater need to be safe this weekend.”

“While we try and eliminate as many difficulties for the race team as is possible, there is no escaping the fact that a title-deciding race is clearly very stressful. You’re somewhat torn because the need to score four points is considerably easier than winning - but that sort of attitude is anathema to the team. The reality is that Shanghai was rather more stressful because we only had a five-point cushion over Felipe and that could have been seriously dented.

    “Given our performance so far this year, you’d assume that Lewis would be able to score the necessary points - but that could be affected by a sudden Safety Car period or a mechanical problem. Both drivers just need to drive clean races; but reliability is the biggest stress-builder for the guys in the garage, and it is a constant worry.”