Lando Norris is adamant that he must "learn" from his error at the start of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which saw him drop from first to third.
The McLaren driver, having started from pole, went into the first corner too hot, subsequently falling behind Max Verstappen and George Russell.
Whilst he found his way back past the Mercedes later on, he could not catch the Dutchman, who went on to claim the 69th grand prix victory of his career.
It was ultimately for nought, as Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri were disqualified for illegal plank wear, something that could prove costly in the F1 drivers' championship battle.
Nonetheless, prior to that verdict being handed down by the FIA, the British driver maintained that a win was ultimately not on the cards for him, regardless of his mistake, on his 150th start in F1.
However, he was not happy with his performance, chastising himself and saying he had been "spoilt" after back-to-back triumphs heading into the round in Nevada.
"Pretty embarrassing," Norris told Sky Sports F1 when asked about the start. "I just braked way too late."
"I’m here to win races. Second is still a great result. I feel spoilt because of how good we’ve been the last few weekends.
"I messed up Turn 1 badly, and it cost me a chance to lead the race. It didn’t cost me the win today. The thing that cost us the win today was just a lack of performance, not being quick enough and a lot of issues with the car [which were related to the later disqualification].
"I need to learn from Turn 1 and try to do a better job than I’ve been doing recently. We’ve not been performing well enough here."
Norris now heads into the final two rounds with a 24-point advantage over both Oscar Piastri and Verstappen in the standings.
However, with 58 points still on offer in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, it is the Red Bull driver that the 26-year-old seems most concerned by.
"I know we won in Brazil, but we weren't quick enough relative to what Max was," the 11-time grand prix winner added.
"They seem very good. Max is doing a very good job. The Red Bull car seems very quick, and they're beating us.
"I just hate getting beaten, simple as that. I hate that they're quicker at the minute, and we've got to try and step it up a bit."
It is worth noting that some of McLaren's performance at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit would have come from running the MCL39 too low to the ground, which culminated in the double disqualification.
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