This was the type of masterclass that put Timo Werner top of the transfer targets list for Liverpool and the rest of Europe's elite clubs. In this kind of form, there is no stopping him.
Two clinical finishes and an audacious lob to top it off. There was the ruthlessness that RB Leipzig had missed.
By Werner's lofty standards, one goal in his last eight league games was the type of drought he had become unfamiliar with.
For much of 2019-20 the German has been matching Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski stride for stride, goal for goal, and seven blanks in eight was enough to sound the alarm.
Leipzig and Werner stuttered last weekend on the return of the Bundesliga in a draw against Freiburg. It felt the stars had aligned when the fixture list showed Mainz next up and Werner did not waste the opportunity to get his swagger back.
Julian Nagelsmann's side hit the struggling side for eight back in November with Werner producing a stunning hat-trick. On Saturday, they managed just five in what was another demolition job of Achim Beierlorzer's side.
Werner got three again - two from close range and the lob to seal it - and it will have brought welcome relief for himself and his manager, even if Mainz offered little to no resistance. Goals 89, 90 and 91 of his Leipzig career make him the club's all-time leading goalscorer, surpassing Daniel Frahn (88).
While three points were key in closing the gap on Bayern and Borussia Dortmund, it was Werner's day. A history maker.
Werner aside, it was a day of records for the club. Nagelsmann's team have now scored 68 goals in a Bundesliga season, the club's best ever top-flight return since their maiden campaign in 2016-17.
Back to Werner and he is on 24 goals, his best in a single season. Superlatives are following round the striker and his manager like a shadow.
Mainz knew the chips were stacked against them against a side that wholly embarrassed them earlier in the campaign.
There was talk of 'revenge' in the home dressing room. What happened was history repeating itself. RB Leipzig sublime, Mainz pretty dreadful.
It took seven minutes for Werner to put the visitors on their way.
A neat move found Konrad Laimer on the right and he had the enviable task of squaring across the box to Werner who, with a sweep of his right foot, found the bottom corner of Florian Muller's goal.
Elbow bumps to celebrate, the relief was palpable from Leipzig despite an empty Opel Arena sitting before them.
Lining up in a 3-5-2 system, Leipzig were keen to keep their foot on the throats of their opponent and Werner's strike partner, Yussef Poulson, soon made it 2-0 on a landmark day for him.
On his 250th appearance for the club, the Swiss international found himself socially distanced inside the box as he headed in from close range to make it 2-0. Mainz already looked to have had the wind knocked out of them.
This time it was Marcel Sabitzer who turned provider for Poulson and it was Sabitzer who would make it 3-0 following a counter-attacking move before the break.
As Mainz scrambled to get back, just when they thought Leipzig had overcomplicated it, blown the opportunity, a cut-back to Sabitzer was navigated into the top corner with the inside of his right foot.
What concerned Mainz most was not the fact they were 3-0 down and long out of the game, it was that Leipzig were like a ravenous lion who was still hungry for more.
And so Leipzig continued in search of more, refusing to hit the brake with the result secure.
Three minutes after the restart any hopes Mainz may have fostered in the dressing room were extinguished by Werner, the fire starter on the day.
An outstanding piece of team play saw Kevin Kampl play a quick one-two with Christopher Nkunku and after racing into the area, Nkunku just had to square it across for Werner to convert. There was a sense of deja vu, only this time it was 4-0, not 1-0.
At this stage, Peter Gulacsi in the Leipzig goal was a passenger, free to marvel at Werner and Co in front of him.
Kampl, who was instrumental in the fourth goal, thought he had scored No 5 with a stunner from range, only for VAR to beg to differ. But Nagelsmann's side did get a fifth with 15 minutes remaining when Werner nonchalantly lifted the ball over a stranded Muller in the Mainz goal.
A third goal, a second hat-trick against Mainz this season, and number one in the club's all-time scorers list.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com