The competitive edge between Formula One's two four-time world champions, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, was clear to see after the former claimed pole for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
The initial runs in the final qualifying shootout were tight, with Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen split by less than 0.1s. On the final run, Hamilton distanced himself from the opposition, posting a blistering effort 0.6s up on Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari, while Vettel and Verstappen had to settle for the second row of the grid.
There has been speculation in the media that Mercedes has developed another engine boost for its qualifying runs, something which has helped the German manufacturer dominate Saturdays in the V6 turbo era. Some media outlets have dubbed this a 'party mode' in the weeks leading up to the season, but Hamilton insisted he made no change on the steering wheel between the final two qualifying sessions.
"I can assure you we don't have a party mode," he said in the post-session press conference. "I used the same mode in Q2 and Q3. There was no extra button, there was no extra mode that I engaged in."
At that point Vettel, sat alongside him, laughed and said: "What were you doing before then?"
Flashing a grin, Hamilton replied: "I was waiting to put in a good lap in, so I could wipe the smile off your face! I've never heard the term party mode but it sounds pretty cool."
The interaction was then repeated to the top three later, at which point Vettel suggested Hamilton should wait until the conclusion of the grand prix to make jokes.
"I think he said it so quick that I didn't get it but now I get it. Thanks for repeating it.
"What goes around comes around. At the end of the day that's why we are here, we want to have fun. That's what he enjoys and on Saturday's he's doing pretty well."
At this point, Hamilton clarified: "It really was a joke, dude."
Vettel made light of the joke again at the end of the press conference.
"Lewis can party tonight and hopefully me and Kimi can party tomorrow," he said, referring to the prospect of Ferrari repeating its victory at Melbourne 12 months ago.
With Raikkonen sat on the other side of Hamilton, the reigning world champion replied: "Kimi parties all the time anyway!"
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Raikkonen was not paying attention at this point. When Hamilton turned to the 2007 world champion in anticipation of a response and instead saw him gazing up at the roof with a deadpan expression, he burst into laughter.