Hamilton thrilled despite no victory

McLaren driver Hamilton had started from third place and admitted after the race he was not expecting to be so strong in the race.

The Briton fought hard with Massa, eventually losing out by less than four seconds.

Despite that, Hamilton was delighted with the result.

"I am thrilled to have come second," admitted the Briton. "With the strategy we were on yesterday I was a bit disappointed. Heikki did a fantastic job and was able to outqualify me with more fuel, but looking at the data I was happy with tyre choice and just lost time in middle sector.

"We knew it was going to be tough to challenge the Ferraris and were hoping to get points - a top five would have been great - but the balance was great. On hard tyres I was able to keep up with Felipe and overtake him. I was able to keep pushing. At the end the softer tyre was definitely the worse tyre so I am much happier."

Hamilton had to stop three times over concerns that his tyres would suffer a failure, and the McLaren driver admitted the strategy hindered his chances of fighting for the win.

"The reason we went with the three stopper was that Bridgestone were concerned. They thought the tyre was going to fail like it did last year and they made us do a tree-stop as it was the safest route to go. Unfortunately that put us in not such a strong position to win the race.

"However I am given a problem and I deal with it, that is why I still believe we are the best. I have to say a big thank you to the team for doing a great job in the pitstops."

Despite not winning, Hamilton closed the gap to championship leader Kimi Raikkonen to seven points, although the Briton is now tied with Massa in second place.