Lewis Hamilton admits he could not shake the sound of his Sepang engine failure from his mind during his victorious drive at the U.S. Grand Prix.
Hamilton claimed his first win since July in Austin, leading away from pole position and coming under little threat throughout. Hamilton has had numerous reliability issues this season, most recently an engine failure while leading in the closing stages of the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The world champion admits the memory of that failure haunted him until he took the chequered flag on Sunday.
"Today I felt comfortable doing the job, I was just the whole race concerned the car was not going to make it right up until the line," he said. "I was in fear of the same sound I heard in Malaysia so I was grateful the car made it across the line. I have a lot more confidence in [Nico Rosberg's] reliability, it's going well for him I've just got to continue doing my job and hope for the best."
Though he has struggled with starts off the line this year, Hamilton felt relaxed before the race he would successfully execute his getaway -- which he did, leading into Turn 1 from pole.
"I've generally been relaxed all weekend. I felt like I knew the start was going to go well. That's the first time in the whole year that I had a feeling that it was going to go well -- great work by the guys, great work done in the factory last week and it worked perfectly today."
The win is the 50th of Hamilton's career, moving him one behind Alain Prost's career tally. Michael Schumacher (91 wins) is the only other driver to have passed that landmark and Hamilton admitted it was a surreal milestone to have reached.
"I completely forgot that it was going to the 50th so it's been a long time coming but I was thinking I mentioned it before, I've been here for 10 years, I've had lots of ups and downs and lots of great opportunities to work with some incredibly gifted people who have helped me to get here today, and my family as well, with whom without I wouldn't be here. It's very surreal, I can't believe there's only been three of us but hopefully onto bigger and better things."
The win closes the gap to Rosberg to 26 points, meaning the world championship is still out of his hands; Rosberg can finish second, second and third in the final races and still take the title.