For the German the victory was worth exponentially more than the regulation 25 points, and more still than the slicing of seven points off Lewis Hamilton’s championship lead – it represented one of the few times during Mercedes’ dominant era that Rosberg has beaten his teammate in a straight fight.
Too often in 2014 the battles between the Silver Arrows drivers boiled down to technical issues or differing strategies. When the pair did happen to meet on track, Hamilton almost always bullied his way into the lead. It was this dynamic that ultimately decided last year’s title in the Englishman’s favour.
Nico’s dominant 11-7 pole record over his teammate last year has evaporated in 2015. Lewis whitewashed the opening four rounds of the season with four poles and three victories; the title seemed to be within his grasp already.
But slowly, quietly, Nico has been putting the pieces together. At the end of last season he promised a full inquiry into his performances against his teammate and to come back stronger. So far this season he’s been down, but he is most certainly not out.
“Three wins from the last four races” sounds strange to say, but that is exactly how the form guide reads. Hamilton holds only a slender 4-3 victory margin in the intra-team battle. Victory, all of a sudden, doesn’t feel so assured.
What’s more is that momentum – that most elusive of sporting properties – has been gradually building with Rosberg. His win in Barcelona stemmed the Hamilton tide, even if he never needed to defend directly against a slow-starting Hamilton.
In Monaco, suffice to say Rosberg’s cool head prevailed when Hamilton’s melted down, even if the pit wall deserved an equal share of the blame.
But there could be no mitigating circumstances in this driver’s defeat of his rival. His weekend was not flawless – he lost control of his car on his final qualifying lap, conceding pole to Hamilton – but his race performance could not be faulted.
His getaway from the line was immaculate, and he refused to bend under the pressure of Hamilton’s aggressive swoop to the right in an attempt to cover him off. He took the lead into the first corner and held off a challenge at turn two, and he effortlessly survived the safety car restart after Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen’s terrifying accident.
The race, in sum, was totally under his control.
“Today was just a great day,” grinned Rosberg. “Good start and then good pace also in the race – and that's what I'm most happy about.
“I think this year I found what I needed to find last year in terms of race [pace]. Just doing a little bit better in the races and that's really working out for me this year.”
Lewis Hamilton, by that same token, was genuinely beaten. He was off the pace for much of the weekend, and had no answer to Nico streaking out in front.
“[I was] just keeping up with Nico in the first stint, and then in the second stint Nico generally had better pace,” he said. “It was just bringing the car home.”
Hamilton, for the first time in recent memory, was put in his place on merit alone. It was an undoubted dent to his consecutive title aspirations, and not a moment too soon.
Gerhard Berger, former driver and F1 man about town, cut straight to the point during the podium interviews when he asked, “Nico why you don't drive every race like this?”.
The reply was straightforward: “I will try from now on, I promise!”
This could be the beginning of a beautiful rivalry.