Lewis Hamilton took a comfortable victory at the Mexican Grand Prix – but will have to wait at least one more race before being crowned world champion.
The Brit needed to outscore his nearest title rival Valtteri Bottas by 14 or more points to clinch the title, but the Finn managed to finish in third behind Sebastian Vettel.
It meant Hamilton could only extend the gap by 10-points, with the next opportunity to take his sixth world championship at the United States GP.
Ferrari and Red Bull unexpected losers after showing promise
Ferrari were comfortably leading race at the start, with Charles Leclerc and Vettel managing to get through the first lap unscathed while Hamilton and Max Verstappen ended up on the grass.
The two drivers had been side by side going into turn two, although both had a kick of oversteer and ran wide, allowing Alexander Albon to move up to third.
It saw Verstappen drop further down the field while Hamilton dropped behind Carlos Sainz to fifth.
However, the Brit managed to quickly pass the McLaren driver and closed in on Albon, while Verstappen started to make his way through the pack and pulled off a brave move on Bottas heading into the stadium section of the circuit.
But contact with the Finn left the Dutchman with a puncture, being forced to pit at the end of lap five.
Meanwhile, with Hamilton closing in on Albon, the Red Bull driver opted to perform the two-stop strategy by pitting early onto another set of medium tyres.
Leclerc swiftly followed to cover off the Thai driver, also committing to the two stop while Vettel, Bottas and Hamilton stayed out.
It put the three drivers on a one stop strategy, with Hamilton the first of the trio to make his move and pit onto hard tyres.
However, Vettel and Bottas opted to stay out for more than 10 laps longer before pitting, with Hamilton unsure his Mercedes team had made the right call.
“It feels like we stopped way to early,” the Brit said on the radio. “There is a long way to go on these tyres.”
But with Vettel and Bottas rejoining a few seconds behind, Hamilton was able to control the pace out front, despite a late charge the two drivers.
It meant Hamilton was able to take victory ahead of them, with Leclerc finishing fourth and Albon fifth.
Verstappen recovers, poor race for McLaren
Verstappen recovered to finish in an impressive sixth place, with Sergio Perez taking seventh in front of his home crowd for Racing Point.
Daniel Ricciardo drove a good race to finish in eight, with the two Toro Rosso drivers of Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly finishing ninth and 10th.
What looked to be a promising weekend for McLaren fell through, with Sainz finishing outside of the points and a botched pit stop leaving Lando Norris out of the running and retiring from the race.