The reaction to the mechanical issue at the Sachsenring, while Viñales was sat in fourth stalking teammate Aleix Espargaro in third, painted an important picture. A first podium with his new team was there for the taking, and through no fault of his own, a rostrum went astray. But when pulling into pitlane, Viñales gave his RS-GP a couple of gentle pats, fist-bumped his whole team and calmly sat back down in the garage. Those few seconds demonstrated to everyone that we were witnessing a new, happy Viñales.