4th of August 2007, the date won’t hold much significance for many but for anyone interested in Formula 1 at this time, it was the date of qualifying for the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix.

There won’t be many working at McLaren who were around back then, certainly not in a senior position but the repercussions at the team can still be felt, Spygate cost McLaren the constructors championship that season and they have not claimed it since.

Often forgotten from that day was that Lewis Hamilton was the man who broke the code of conduct rules with his teammate, Alonso’s retaliation was far more severe but this wasn’t a one-off, tension had been brewing between the two of them all season and an incident was bound to happen if left unchecked.

None of this explains the team orders on Sunday but the context for the team is all important, they don’t want tension to build, it has cost them before and while many may not agree, if they are to challenge for the constructors championship (is the drivers priority number two?) then they need to work together, lines have been drawn early, a lesson potentially learned.