Championship leader Lewis Hamilton says he was thinking about the title when doing battle with Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the closing laps of the United States Grand Prix.
The four-time champion had closed down the Dutchman and had attempted to pass him around the outside of the Turn 17 and 18 long right-handers, giving the 21-year old ample room on the inside.
With the title in his sights and with title-rival Sebastian Vettel stuck behind Valtteri Bottas at the time of the move, gaining second place would have been enough to clinch the title.
The move failed to come off after Hamilton had run onto the dirty line and was forced to run wide on the exit of the corner, settling for third place at the chequered flag, while Vettel ultimately jumped Bottas to take fourth.
"It was actually a really fun race, to be close with Kimi and have a bit of a battle with him and Max," said Hamilton.
"I had one little chance at the end, but I had to give Max a lot of space because it's better to finish third than get taken out by someone who's not fighting for the championship, so I didn't want to take that risk.
"It was quite cool that it was Ferrari, Red Bull and us battling for positions and it must have been exciting to watch.
"Naturally, I'm a bit disappointed in our performance, to have started first but finished third, but I'm still grateful that I managed to finish up ahead of Seb.
"When you don't have Friday practice you don't get to work on the set-up and get the optimum out of the car. Everyone was in the same boat, but I think ultimately Ferrari came closer to us with the changes they made.
"In the race, we were lacking pace on the straights, but I gave it everything. I was still pushing like crazy and that's what racing is all about."
"We were going for the win today, but it wasn't meant to be. We're going to Mexico next; it's such a beautiful place, but I haven't always had the best results there, so I definitely want to win that race.
Hamilton nonetheless extended his advantage to 70 points, and he will leave Mexico as 2018 champion if the gap to Vettel is 50 or more.
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