Hamilton: Australia row a huge knock

"For me, it's affected me in my life," the Briton told CNN in an interview. "For sure. It's had a huge knock on my life and the way things have gone through the last few months.

"But um, these are things that are sent to try us. And it's not really particularly how or what goes on, it's how you come out of it stronger and grow from it.

"So, I've been very blessed and very fortunate I've got a great family, who've supported me the whole way. The team has supported me the whole way. And we've dealt with it together as a team," the Briton added.

Hamilton has endured a tough start to his title defence this year, with McLaren not proving competitive enough to fight for wins.

The British driver, however, is staying philosophical.

"I wouldn't say that I'm disappointed. I think it's, for sure, it's a shame," he said. "It would have been great to have approached a season with a competitive car and be able to really challenge and try to defend the title.

"But I'm not in that position. I'm really scraping away to get every little point that I can get."

Hamilton, who has scored just nine points in five races, insisted the title is already out of reach.

"I think realistically would be to get back up into the top three of the championship," Hamilton added.

"That's going to be a realistic goal, I think. With...with the real improvement that we have coming, hopefully if they pay off, that would be a realistic goal, But clearly, catching the guys up the front is going to be very tough."