Hamilton explains suggestion to give up: 'I wasn't being defeatist'

A collision with Kevin Magnussen caused the Briton to drop from sixth to nineteenth place on the first lap of the Formula One race, after which he suggested to his team to save the engine then. However, Hamilton made a solid turnaround and eventually crossed the finish line in fifth place.

Hamilton: "It’s not being defeatist"

Consequently, his attitude from early in the race was not evident to the Mercedes driver after the race. "It’s not being defeatist, it was just I was literally 30 seconds behind," he explained according to FormulaRapida.net. He says he did not expect to be able to make up so many positions.

In retrospect, he is happy that his team convinced him to keep going and even says that his overtaking race "feels like a win". "It just shows you never stop, you never give up, and that’s what I did. It actually feels better most often than a win, when you’ve come from so far back, been through so much," said Hamilton, who speaks of "quite a bit of adversity" in his race.