Lewis Hamilton revealed the scenario in which he would choose to call time on his Formula 1 career.
The seven-time world champion faced questions about his future after Sebastian Vettel revealed his impending retirement from the sport. Reporters in Budapest wanted to know if the German's decision had any impact on Hamilton's own plans.
But the firm answer to that question was a "no", as the Mercedes star still has plenty of fight left in him at the age of 37. While two years older than the retiring Vettel, he is still not the elder statesman of the F1 paddock with old rival Fernando Alonso celebrating his 41st birthday this weekend.
And Hamilton revealed that he plans to continue racing for a while yet – though he admitted he plans on leaving the sport before giving absolutely everything he has. "When I talk about fuel left in the tank, I am still fighting for those things and I still feel I have plenty to go," he said.
"More likely than not, if I stop, I will still have fuel left in the tank. I don't think I'm going to go as far as completely burnt out and have nothing left but hopefully that's a long way off.
"[Vettel's decision] has not made me think about that because I am thinking about how I can improve this car, what the next step is we need to get this team winning again, what is the road map to winning another world championship."
Hamilton reached the milestone of 300 F1 races last weekend in France, with only five other drivers ever reaching that figure. His team chief Toto Wolff reacted to that by hinting at a contract extension and claiming the Brit could even add another century of Grands Prix.
"We talked a few weeks ago about how long our partnership can go and the figure discussed was about five to 10 years, so I think we can go to 400," said the Austrian. "Someone once said you have not just got to win the eighth – why not 10? Says he who is a second off the pace."
