Lewis Hamilton insists he gained no advantage from cutting the first corner on his way to winning Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix.
Hamilton made a quick getaway and led the field on the long run down to Turn 1, but suffered a large lock-up under braking and went straight across the grass, before re-joining in the lead at the exit of the chicane. After the race Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo said the Briton should have been handed a penalty.
When asked whether he thought he had gained an advantage by going wide, Hamilton swiftly replied: "Well I completely flat-spotted the tyres so that wasn't an advantage but I think I was still in the lead going in, and I was in the lead going out so I don't believe so."
The triple-world champion explained he had suffered from a glazed front right brake on the formation lap, which he said played a significant factor at the start. Hamilton also admitted he did not think he would make it through the first stint without having to pit for fresh tyres following his lock-up.
"Basically on the formation lap I had a glazed front right brake, I couldn't hook it up so I had 500 degrees on the left front and 150-200 on the right front. Coming into Turn 1 and the right front just woke up and locked, I was carrying so much speed. I was just lucky I didn't go in the wall or something.
"After that I had the biggest vibration, I didn't think I was going to make it through the first stint. I honestly thought I was going to have to stop, the vibration was so big. I could barely see it to be honest but it was really nice when we got some new fresh tyres, much smoother."
Hamilton's victory was the 51st of his career, which not only ties him with Alain Prost on the all-time leader board in second place, but also marks Mercedes' 17th win of 2016 -- the most wins achieved by any constructor over the course of a single season.
After being asked for his thoughts on both landmarks, Hamilton said: "Well the most important one is the team one. It's just incredible, fantastic, over half of the victories I've had have been with this team.
"It's just a true showing that we have an incredible group of people, how well we work together and for the third year in a row we've proved that we are the best team so I'm very proud to be a part of it.
"That was the plan coming to this team, hopefully being a part of that growth and that success. I couldn't have dreamt it to be even better than it is."