LEWIS HAMILTON gave the kiss of life to revive his title defence after his victory in the Mexico Grand Prix.
As Mexico City’s 22million population celebrated the Day of the Dead festival, Hamilton showed his season will not be killed off.
The Brit’s win, the 51st of his career — moving him joint second with Alain Prost in the all-time F1 winners’ list — was faultless.
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Mercedes rival, Nico Rosberg, came into this race knowing a win for him would seal his maiden title, providing Hamilton finished 10th or lower.
But the German had to settle for second place meaning he now has a 19 point lead in the championship going into the final two races of the season.
Hamilton was all smiles on the podium but had plenty of reasons to be cautious for his season has been seriously hampered by mechanical problems and poor starts.
The individual mistakes and slow getaways have been frustrating while the breakdowns have proved to be difficult to take.
Most notably, the engine-blow in Malaysia that cost him the win followed by the subsequent fall out with the media.
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There was also an ERS failure in China at the start of qualifying, a fault that reappeared in the Russian Grand Prix.
He was in the wrong engine mode in Baku for 10 laps, while a hydraulic fault in Singapore denied him vital running in Singapore, where Rosberg won.
Bad luck indeed, especially since Rosberg's season has been largely trouble-free; a gearbox problem in the British GP bumped him down to third instead of second.
Yet Hamilton flew to Mexico and had been in relaxed mood all week, boosted by his win in the United States Grand Prix, he showed no sign the fear of another failure was weighing on his mind.
With the title race out of his control, Hamilton responded in the only way he knows how.
The pressure of seeing Rosberg capable of snatching his crown brought out Hamilton's brilliant best in qualifying, as he stormed to pole with a blistering lap.
He took full advantage of his front spot too, as the poor starts now look a thing of the past.
Hamilton powered off the line and managed to keep ahead of Rosberg on the long run down into the first turn.
But with the German looming in his mirrors, Hamilton made an uncharacteristic mistake, locking up his tyres, forcing him off the track.
It was real heart-in-the-mouth stuff for Hamilton as he bumped across the grass but he managed to keep his Mercedes in a straight line and re-join the track.
It was not the same for Rosberg, who became tangled in a battle with Red Bull's Max Verstappen, with the Dutch teen banging wheels with the German.
Further back, Manor's Pascale Wehrlein was clipped by the hapless Esteban Gutierrez and sent spinning out of the race.
The accident at the first turn forced the deployment of the safety car, and while the marshals recovered his broken car, Hamilton was able to regain his composure.
When the racing did resume on lap four, Hamilton has to contend with hefty vibrations from his damaged tyre.
Eventually he pitted for fresh tyres on lap 18 and soon set about positing the fastest lap times, but he was not able to return to the lead until Sebastian Vettel finally made his stop of lap 32.
At the halfway stage, Hamilton had a 4.8 second lead over Rosberg, who was being drawn into a fight with Verstappen.
And the 19-year-old had his first pop, going into turn four and squeezing past Rosberg, only he failed to make the move stick and the Mercedes was able to move back in front.
The bold attempt forced Rosberg to up the pace but he was still too far behind to trouble Hamilton for a place in the lead.
The German was given a helping hand when Verstappen sailed off track on lap 68 in a fight with Sebastian Vettel.
Verstappen then drew the rage of the Ferrari driver after refusing to allow him past, despite being asked to by his Red Bull team.
Vettel was furious as he was then back into a fight with Daniel Ricciardo.
Verstappen still refused to surrender his place but was later slapped with a time penalty to bump him down to fifth and promoting Vettel to third.
Jenson Button had and uneventful race, finishing down in 12th place in his McLaren.
Meanwhile, Jolyon Palmer boosted his hopes of earning a new deal at Renault after finishing in 14th place.
The Brit, who started in the pitlane, is desperate to impress his bosses and did his cause no harm after completing 70 of the 71 laps on the same set of tyres.
Driver of the Day: Red Bull's Max Verstappen livened up this dull race
Move of the Race: Kimi Raikkonen went around Nico Hulkenberg on lap 68.
Mistake of the Race: Carlos Saniz was given a five second penalty for forcing Fernando Alonso off track.
Milkfloat: Daniil Kvyat had another underwhelming race for Toro Rosso.
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