Hamilton: Second a reward for effort

Having had to remove its exhaust-blown diffuser following practice after problems getting the new system to work without impacting on reliability, McLaren worked late into Friday night to change the car's spec back again.

Hamilton then qualified fourth, jumped to second at the start, and chased winner Mark Webber for the rest of the race to secure the runner-up spot at home.

"I don't think it is a miracle result, it is a result of all the hard work, a reflection of all the hard work the team put in," said Hamilton.

"It was nice to drive, not as fast as the guys ahead of us, but we did best job we could with the package we had, and even Jenson [Button] did a great job today. I guess we are still leading constructors' so it is a great result for the guys."

But despite his pleasure at being second on a difficult weekend, Hamilton admitted he had no answer to Webber's speed.

"The Red Bulls, and Mark, did a phenomenal job," he said. "Those guys are so fast, out of pure pace I wouldn't be able to out-pace them.

"In the first couple of laps it looked like he was struggling, and I thought I had a chance to get past, but we both struggled. No chance though, I was flat chat but he was edging away."