As Formula One's longest ever season drew to a close, just two men stood with a chance of claiming motorsport's most sought after crown.
It came as no surprise to see both of them in a Mercedes W07 Hybrid, the surprise came in the fact that Nico Rosberg was 33 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton, with just four races to go.
Game over? That was anything but the case.
The 50th win
The result was almost inevitable. At a track where only two drivers have won since its inaugural race in 2012, Formula 1's fifth trip to the Circuit of the Americas provided no shocks, in front of a record crowd for the event.
In qualifying, both Mercedes cars locked out the front row, Hamilton taking pole position from Rosberg by three tenths, with honorary Texan Daniel Ricciardo, perched in third. Unlike 2015, Hamilton had no need to ease Rosberg off track into Turn 1, easily keeping the lead, whilst Ricciardo nabbed second from the German. Chaos ensued behind with contact in the midfield.
That order of Hamilton from Ricciardo from Rosberg stayed until lap 31, when Ricciardo's teammate Max Verstappen ground to an eventual halt with gearbox failure.
Although, his questionable parking brought out a Virtual Safety Car, which Rosberg used to his advantage, and stopped for fresh rubber. Ricciardo, didn't. The afternoon went from bad to worse for Red Bull as Rosberg leapfrogged the fuming Australian when he eventually did come in.
Ferrari's dismal season had another bizarre twist, as Kimi Raikkonen was forced to stop at the end of the pitlane with a loose wheel. Due to CotA's steep incline at the end of the pit straight, Raikkonen's car rolled down the hill, with the Finn trying to guide it to a place where his mechanics could reach him. Nothing doing, the irked Raikkonen strolled back to his garage, out of the race, with Ferrari facing a €5,000 fine.
No such problems for Hamilton, as he strolled home to victory - his fifth in the United States, with Rosberg four and a half second behind. Ricciardo took the final podium spot, but it could've been much more. Fernando Alonso also put in a sterling display, dragging his McLaren to fifth.
Rosberg - 331
Hamilton - 305
Two in a row
Compared to Japan, Lewis Hamilton cut a more relaxed figure in the paddock, momentum with him, but he still had it all to do. Mexico was the destination, as the refurbished Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City played host to its second race after its 23 year absence. It was busy right to the end.
Once more, Hamilton was fastest on Saturday from Rosberg. Verstappen got the better of Ricciardo, with the two swapping order from the US.
The drama started from Turn One of lap one, with Hamilton and Verstappen taking different interpretations of the track layout. Both got away with it, although Verstappen's actions would provide part of the later mania.
As Hamilton held his lead with little challenge from Rosberg, who was content with second to keep the points ticking over. With four laps to go, the three car battle for third caught the camera's glare. Verstappen led Vettel and Ricciardo.
The German tried a move on Verstappen at the end of the long pit straight, with the Red Bull coming in to Turn One too hot, and repeating the adventurous line he took on lap one. This angered Vettel, demanding that he was handed the place - but nothing doing, his words became sharper and bluer.
As Ricciardo closed up, Vettel vented his anger once more, disgusted by the Dutchman's tactics. The German-Dutch relationship was at an all time low.
Hamilton swept to a second successive victory from Rosberg, but the battle behind raged on. Verstappen took the flag first from an irate Vettel, who told race director Charlie Whiting to "f**k off", succinctly. On the warm down lap, Vettel cut right across Verstappen's path, a la Mark Webber to Vettel at Malaysia in 2013.
But that wasn't the end of it. Upon reaching the cool down room, Verstappen was told he'd lost third place and received a five second penalty, demoting him to fifth.
That launched Vettel into the podium place he felt he was entitled to. He went up onto the podium, but a few hours later saw it taken away from him, and he now assumed fifth. So the victor was the originally fifth placed Ricciardo, who leapfrogged them both. Clear?
Rosberg - 349
Hamilton - 330
It never rains, it pours
Brazil, the host of several a title decider. And if Rosberg took the maximum score, it would be the scene of the crowning of the 2016 World Champion. But, in wet conditions and a stop start afternoon, Hamilton kept his cool to take the title right to the wire.
Once more, Hamilton took pole from Rosberg, with Raikkonen in third. Before the race had even started, the wet track claimed its first victim, as Romain Grosjean careered into the barriers at Arquibancadas on his way to the grid, half an hour before lights out.
After seven laps behind the Safety Car, racing commenced with 21 cars tiptoeing round a treacherous Interlagos, with Verstappen making a bold move down the inside of Raikkonen at Turn 1 for third.
With Vettel spinning and Marcus Ericsson slamming into wall and sliding into the pit lane, the transition from full wets to inters was anything but simple. The Swede's crash brought out the Safety Car once more for a five lap stint.
However, as soon as Bernd Maylander pulled into the pits, Raikkonen's Ferrari wiggled and kicked, swapping ends and hitting the wall. Esteban Ocon did well to avoid the wreck in his Manor. That prompted the first red flag.
After around half an hour the action resumed, with Hamilton leading from Rosberg and the charging Verstappen. Felipe Nasr sat in a credible 7th at his home race in the Sauber and both Manor cars of Ocon and Pascal Wehrlein had made it into the points. Due to water seeping through his visor, Hamilton even had a helmet change.
But, just as the Brazilian public thought they were finally set for an uninterrupted race, Maylander led the field back into the pits, with red flags waving just three laps after the restart, due to poor track conditions.
It was a decision that wasn't greeted with any affection, with boos, jeers and plenty of thumbs pointing downwards. Additionally, several drivers voiced their complaints, claiming that the track conditions were fine.
Once more, cars emerged from the pitlane after another lengthy delay, with Verstappen pulling a sublime move on Rosberg for second around the outside of Curva do Sol, using all of his wet weather prowess, as he coaxed the car to its limits of adhesion. But the Dutchman's hard work was nearly undone in a flash.
Coming round Arquibancadas, Verstappen's Red Bull switched ends after his front left kissed the white paint, but astonishingly the teenager kept his car out of the wall - even going full on sideways at one point, and held second position. It hardly fazed him, quipping "Heartbeat went up a bit there," with not an ounce of fear in his voice over the radio.
Not to be outdone, Rosberg suffered the same fate moments later, and whilst it may not have been as much of a dramatic slide, when the World Championship is on the line, every inconvenience is that little bit more exaggerated.
After building up a considerable lead, Hamilton found the rest of the field tucked up behind him once more as Felipe Massa's crash - in what we all thought was his final home race - conjured up another appearance from Mr. Maylander. Massa embarked on short, emotional trudge back to the pits, greeted by his family, a standing ovation from the main grandstand and all the pit crews applauding him on the way down to his garage. The first moment of the afternoon where tears shed were ones of sadness, not boredom.
During the Safety Car period, Verstappen admitted defeat, claiming his intermediates made the car feel "like a boat". He relinquished his second place, falling outside the points with just 18 laps to go. After seven laps, it was time to resume full speed (of sorts), with drama down the field as Alonso spun at Juncao and was consequently passed by his fellow struggling teammate, Jenson Button.
But, with Hamilton streaking away...again, all eyes were on the charging Verstappen, who sliced his way up the field with Ayrton Senna-esque efficiency passing the following: Valtteri Bottas, Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, Ocon, Nasr, Nico Hulkenberg, Vettel, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez to finish third. All within 17 laps. It was like nothing the crowd watching had seen before, and had he had the luxury of a few more laps, who knows, he could have even won.
But, it was Hamilton who collected his third win in succession, ensuring that we were to have a battle under dusk and the lights at Abu Dhabi - a glamorous, modern and fitting way to end a eventful season. Nasr finished 9th too, halping Sauber pass Manor in the Constructors' standings, something that may prove to be the end of his F1 career, for now.
Rosberg - 367
Hamilton - 355
Games
And so it all came down to this. In order to repeat his father's achievement 34 years prior, Rosberg had to finish on the podium, even if Hamilton were to win in Abu Dhabi - the site of their first championship showdown in 2014. With much of the pre-race talk circling around gamesmanship from both drivers, Mercedes were keen to emphasise that nothing but fair game would be acceptable. Well, at least they tried.
As has become common theme of this part of the 2016 season review, Hamilton took pole position from Rosberg. And that order remained into Turn One, with Raikkonen in third. Disaster for Verstappen, as he spun under contact and was demoted to last. A repeat of his sterling Brazil drive was in order, but any prayers for rain were very unlikely to be answered.
Early on, there were mechanical problems for Kevin Magnussen in his last race for Renault, Bottas in what turned out to be his final race for Williams and finally, and most sadly, Button - in what looks more and more likely to be his final race in the sport. After giving the kerb at the chicane at turns eight and nine a hefty whack, his front right suspension took on irreparable damage, forcing him into retirement. He got a rousing standing ovation as he stood on the nose of the battered McLaren in the pitlane.
The first round of stops saw Verstappen edge back into contention, after stretching his tyres. Hamilton pit first, followed by Rosberg, with Raikkonen, Vettel and Ricciardo all coming in before lap ten to shed their ultrasofts.
Whilst Hamilton had clean air ahead of him, Rosberg was stuck behind Verstappen, as his race engineer Tony Ross urged him not to take any risks in getting past. It took him until lap 20, as Verstappen's rear tyres started to give way. In that time, Hamilton had been controlling the race with consummate ease, but - voluntarily - not built up a sizeable gap. We'd see why later.With Verstappen having pit, Rosberg was under orders to set a series of Qualifying laps. He did just that, and managed to stay ahead of Verstappen at the seocnd round of stops, but remained behind Hamilton. And that's where it got really interesting.
Despite several pleads for him to up his pace, Hamilton bunched the top four up, allowing Ricciardo to make up ground and make it a five way battle for first. His ploy was cunning and was executed to perfection, slowing down through the tight, twisty final sector before bolting through the faster, more open first and second sectors. Vettel and Verstappen swarmed all over the back of Rosberg, with just 2.4 seconds covering the top five with five laps to go. More commands from the Mercedes pit wall were met by sharp, dismissive answers.
But he held his nerve and claimed his crown, as the chequered flag fell, Hamilton had won the race but Nico Rosberg was 2016's Formula One World Champion. His relief was visible and audible, stopping his car in front of the main grandstand on the start-finish straight before producing a few donuts for everyone's joy.
The aftermath
Although their were no laps left to race, the season's drama was far from over; with Rosberg announcing a shock retirement to a room of stunned journalists before the FIA Prize Giving gala on 2 December. He expressed his wish of spending time with family and leaving on a high, citing that the season had drained him physically and emotionally.
His replacement was Bottas, with Massa ending one of the world's shortest retirements as he returns to Williams for one final year. On a more sour note, Manor entered administration in January, and face a nervy few weeks before pre-season testing. With news of a potential buyer running thin, we may see a return to a 20-car grid.
Oh, and there was the small matter of Bernie Ecclestone's departure after 40 years as the sport's ringmaster. Farewell, Mr. E.
Parts One, Two and Three of VAVEL UK's review of the 2016 Formula One season can be found by clicking the respective links.