Lewis Hamilton admits it was a case of “finish or crash” as he tried to survive on his medium tyres during the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Briton had to manage his pace throughout a mammoth 66-lap stint on the C4 compound while also keeping a charging Max Verstappen at bay on the more durable C3.
As graining and grip got worse, his criticism of Mercedes grew with even chief strategist James Vowles having to reassure Hamilton over the radio.
Lewis would succeed, however, to claim his third Monte Carlo and spoke of the influence Niki Lauda’s passing was having on his performance.
“That was definitely the hardest race I’ve had,” he stated. “I really was fighting with the spirit of Niki. Niki’s been such an influential person in our team, helping us get to where we are.
“So I know he’ll be looking down and know he would take his hat off today.
“I was just trying to stay focused and trying to make him proud, that’s kind of been the goal all week and we’re going to try to continue that through the year. But we truly miss him.”
The challenge of trying to get to the end was bringing back uncomfortable flashbacks for Hamilton, however.
“I’ve not driven on empty tyres since I think Shanghai 2007, when McLaren left me out for a ridiculous time!” he recalled with his race ending in the pit-lane gravel trap that day.
“I was never going to come in. A couple of years ago I was in the lead and then I came in for a pitstop and learned the hard way and lost the race here, so I wasn’t going to come in. I was either going to crash or finish.
“Honestly I was driving around on nothing. You could see how much understeer I had, the car wasn’t turning.”
His traction out of the corners plus Mercedes power was enough to stay ahead of Verstappen at the key areas of the track.
But the Dutchman did try one late lunge into the chicane with three laps to go, resulting in contact.
“It was close,” Hamilton commented. “A bit of a late dive, luckily I saw him last minute, but his front wing was alongside my rear wheels so he wasn’t really pulling past.
“It was a light touch and we moved on.”
The stewards also deemed the contact a racing incident.
