2016 Mexican Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton has revealed he came close to stopping his race after the Mercedes ace endured a massive lock-up at the first corner.
Lining up on pole position, Hamilton approached Turn One with a comfortable gap to team-mate Nico Rosberg but outbraked himself and cut through the grass.
Although he was able to re-join the track into the lead, the Briton admits his opening stint on the soft tyre was very challenging thereafter.
“On the formation lap I had a glazed front right brake,” Hamilton said. “I had 500˚C on the left front and 150-200˚C on the right front. I went to Turn One and the right front eventually woke up and just locked.
“I was carrying such speed, I was lucky I did not go in the wall or something. And after that, I just had the biggest vibration. I did not think I’d be able to make it in the first stint.
“Honestly I thought I’d have to stop. The vibration was so big that I could barely see to be honest. It was really nice when I got some new fresh tyres and it was a lot smoother.”
Hamilton went to claim a comfortable win at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, his 51st career victory, which put him equal to Alain Prost in second on the all-time list behind Michael Schumacher.
The 31-year-old was however quick to praise the achievements of Mercedes, as the triple Constructors’ champion secured its 17th success of the season, which is an F1 record.
“The most important [landmark] is the team one. That’s just incredible, fantastic. Over half of the victories I’ve had have been with this team. It just shows how much of an incredible group of people we have and how well we work together.
“We are the best team and I’m very proud to be a part of it. That was the plan when I joined, to be a part of this growth and I could not have dreamt it to be better.”
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