After two retirements whilst leading, Lewis Hamilton said a few encouraging words to his MP4-27 as he raced towards the win in the US GP.
Having retired at the last race in Abu Dhabi - and also in Singapore - while at the front of the pack, Hamilton was well aware of the consequences of McLaren's at times sketchy reliability.
So it was no wonder that while racing towards the victory at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday afternoon, he had a little chat with his MP4-27.
"I rubbed the car and said 'Come on baby, we can make it'," he said. "To finish on a high is really special."
Hamilton had taken the lead in the United States GP, the penultimate grand prix of the season, when he overtook Sebastian Vettel on lap 42, making the most of backmarkers and DRS.
"To have a battle with Vettel was really special," said the McLaren driver.
"It was actually quite tricky. When I finally got close to him, I seemed to be catching him in the first sector, the backmarkers came into play, finally.
"How many times has it happened to me when I got caught out? It worked out and I knew that was going to be the lap.
"I turned the engine up to maximise the revs. I went for the inside, but he defended. I went to the outside and he closed the door a bit so I was very lucky."
The victory marked Hamilton's fourth of the season with the Brit revealing he "nearly lost his voice" as he was screaming for joy on his slow down lap.
"I was screaming the whole time. Not cool at all but I'm just so happy. To come back here, after such a long time, and win is something really special."
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