Lewis Hamilton knows he has a tough task on his hands to beat Max Verstappen to the drivers' title after the Dutchman extended his championship lead at the United States Grand Prix.
The Red Bull ace fended off a late push from the seven-time world champion to cross the line first in Austin on Sunday, moving 12 points clear at the top of the standings in the process.
Verstappen showed a calm head to fend off the push from Mercedes star Hamilton and win at a track that was expected to favour the Silver Arrows heading into the weekend.
Now, with the next two rounds expected to favour the Red Bull, the Briton is worried that gap might grow to a margin from which he cannot recover.
Races in Mexico City and Sao Paulo will take place at a higher altitude, which generally favours the Red Bull car over the Mercedes.
"We are going to the next two tracks which are very strong circuits for Red Bull so it is going to be tough," Hamilton said after the race in Texas.
"We will just try and minimise how strong they can be compared to us, and see if we can do a better job.
"I am trying not to think about it at the moment, but be happy with the job I did today. I am living in the moment and will take it one race at a time."
Despite Verstappen qualifying on pole, it was Hamilton who enjoyed a better start to the race and was leading the race after the first corner.
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But it was the Dutchman's race strategy which proved the difference as he dove into the pits early for fresh rubber and ended up back in the lead by the time his title rival had done the same later on.
It meant Hamilton had newer tyres for the all-important closing stages of the race, but despite closing in by seven seconds he was kept at arm's length by the race leader who produced a monstrously quick first sector on the final lap to ensure he was first to take the chequered flag.
Hamilton said he was delighted with the start he made to the race, but admitted his rival was just too strong on the day.
"The goal was to get in the lead, and I finally got a good start," the Briton said. "I have not had as good a start as that for a long time and I was really happy with it.
"So, it was about staying clean, coming out ahead, and holding on to it. It felt good at the time, and like, 'hey this is step one', but they were just too quick."
Meanwhile, Verstappen's team principal Christian Horner was full of praise for his star racer, and generally delighted by the result as Red Bull took a decent chunk out of Mercedes' lead in the constructors' championship.
"I really didn't think he was going to pull that off with Lewis on eight-lap fresher tyres," he said. "You know Lewis is so strong, and he went longer on the tyres to give himself an advantage at the end.
"To lose here would've been really painful, but Max held on and did a great job."
Mercedes led by 36 points heading into the US GP, but that gap has been closed to 23 after another double podium from Verstappen and Sergio Perez, who finished third in Austin.
