Hamilton says he came close to not racing

The Briton had high fevers and neck problems before Saturday qualifying, leading to test driver Pedro de la Rosa being told to be ready to jump into the car in case Hamilton could not race.

"I've had a pretty miserable weekend, really," said Hamilton after finishing second in the race.

"I had the 'flu when I arrived so I had pretty hard fevers pretty much every day, and low energy.

"I also had quite a big problem with a spasm in my neck which kind of nearly did lead to me not racing this weekend."

Speaking about his neck spasm, he said: "I only had it once. I just woke up very very early yesterday, before 5am yesterday, and I had the spasm in my neck. Fortunately I've got a great doctor who was with me the whole way through it.

"It was so bad that I was struggling to basically stand up and so I had to have injections in my neck and take plenty of painkillers. Fortunately, as I said, I have a great trainer who helped. Pedro was looking forward to racing."

Although Hamilton said his neck was still sore, the McLaren driver is confident it will not cause him any trouble in the future.

"No, it won't be a problem again, I'm pretty sure. It's still sore! It was probably something to do with my pillow, the way I was sleeping, because it was just when I woke up.

"I think I've done a pretty decent job, considering."