Hamilton relieved to keep title lead

A tyre gamble that went wrong in qualifying left him down in 15th on the grid and, despite a charge through the field that he claimed could have resulted in winning, a late pitstop to switch to intermediate tyres dropped him to seventh at the chequered flag.

But with title rivals Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen also having far from smooth weekends, he says he is thankful things were not worse.

"I'm more relieved than anything," said Hamilton. "I'm not surprised because I drove my arse off and you know what I can do in the wet. I had no doubts in my mind I could do a good job, catch up and win. I thought it was possible."

When asked if he felt the team had missed a big opportunity because of Ferrari's struggles, Hamilton said: "I think we all missed an opportunity. With me being right at the back, they both missed an opportunity to take lots of points off me.

"But the other way round, if I'd been in Q3, Massa would have been out of the top 10, and we would have got a lot more points than them. So it's not that bad."

Although he leads the championship heading into next week's FIA Appeal Court hearing and the Singapore Grand Prix, Hamilton denies the title is now his to lose.

"When you're in the lead, perhaps (it is). But I'm not looking at it that way," he said. "Kimi is world champion so it's his championship to lose."