Championship leader Lewis Hamilton has stressed that his only goal at the United States Grand Prix was to win the race, not to clinch the title.
Questions about the title had been put to the Mercedes driver all weekend in the build-up to the race, which he would have clinched had he out-scored Sebastian Vettel by eight points.
Hamilton believes his main goal is to win each race as it comes and by doing so, the title will eventually become his without putting full focus on the end goal.
The British driver went wheel-to-wheel with Max Verstappen in the final laps of the race and said he always had the title in his mind while doing so.
"I honestly didn't really have any care about winning the championship," said Hamilton. "I hadn't even thought a single thought about the championship this weekend, there was a lot of questions about it and I was just here to win.
"My sole goal was to win these four races, that's what my mind was set on. Naturally, if you do that, then maybe you could win the championship here, but I was just thinking of the best performing weekend I could do.
Despite taking the final step on the podium, the four-time World Champion believes his Mercedes W09 has lost some pace against the Ferrari SF71-H after the team re-discovered its early to mid-season form.
While there is a sizeable 66-point gap to Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship Hamilton is still determined to help the team retain both world titles.
"There were a lot of things against us, particularly that I've only just discovered certain things which makes a lot of sense and naturally being then on the back foot," he added.
"You could say strategy and all these different things we just weren't quick enough today. But we're still in a great position and for me there is frustration.
"I want to win the title for the team, we lost points in the Constructors' [battle] for the team, but collectively we've lost some performance in some areas, which I think we know where it is. So we still have three races to go."
