Lewis Hamilton has described his third place in the Belgian Grand Prix as "the best result I could have hoped for" having started from the back of the grid.
The championship leader took three sets of power unit penalties ahead of the race at Spa-Francorchamps, leading to a 55-place grid penalty. With team-mate Nico Rosberg starting from pole position, Hamilton's 19-point championship advantage could have been under threat but he took advantage of a chaotic start to the race to climb through the field.
Contact between Max Verstappen, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap was followed by a red flag period on lap nine after Kevin Magnussen's heavy crash, allowing Hamilton to run fifth on the road at the restart and he admits he was surprised by his rapid progress.
“I really can’t believe that we came up so fast," Hamilton said. "I woke up this morning knowing how difficult it would be on these tyres, lots of blistering, but you can never predict what is going to happen in the race.
"That’s the great thing about motor racing, since I was eight years old every race every Sunday has been different. Your car is positioned in a different way, your start is a bit different, something happens up front. In previous races there were no incidents and today there was.
"Today was really about trying to make sure you have the right approach - not too aggressive and not too easy - and I think today collectively as a team we had the right balance. This is the best result I could have hoped for."
And Hamilton praised his Mercedes team after securing a podium finish despite all of the power unit changes.
“What an incredible weekend it’s been. It’s obviously been a much different weekend to what everybody has experienced. Firstly I’m incredibly proud of my guys in the garage and in the factory for building these engines and changing the engines this week. Three new engines this weekend, so to come away with the points that we have today I’m incredibly proud of them all.
“I honestly didn’t know what was going to happen in the race, I just tried to keep my head down all weekend and focus on the long run pace. It seemed to work, it paid off, so congratulations to the guys. It’s great for Mercedes and still great for the championship.
“I’d have had an even better summer if I had gone into the summer knowing that I’d come out nine points ahead still after three new engines, so I’m very grateful.”
Breakfast with ... Otmar Szafnauer
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Chris Medland's 2016 Belgian Grand Prix preview
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