Hamilton worried he would not complete Belgian GP
Lewis Hamilton remains on course to win a fourth world championship despite admitting he feared he would not even make it to the end of Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.
Hamilton started from the back of the field after he was served with a grid penalty following a number of engine changes here this weekend.
But the 31-year-old took advantage of a chaotic start - which saw Max Verstappen, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel trip over one another at the first corner, as well as a terrifying crash involving Kevin Magnussen - to finish third and remain nine points clear of Nico Rosberg who won from pole.
Hamilton, who started 21st, predicted on Saturday night that he would struggle to finish inside the top 10 while his Mercedes team believed eighth was the best he could hope for.
But the British driver will head to next week's Italian Grand Prix, not only as the firm favourite to join just a handful of drivers to have won more than three titles, but also with the engine penalties - which have been looming over him since the start of the season - now firmly out of the way with eight rounds left.
"We prepared ourselves in the way we hoped to get some points, but one of my guys took me up to the Paddock Club before the race and I said 'I might not finish today'," Hamilton revealed after Sunday's eventful grand prix.
"I was really of the mind that whatever happens, it is what is, and then for the next grand prix I have got the same amount of engines available, if not more than the others now, and I can fight in the last eight races.
"So, to come out with a clean race like I did and only lose 10 points [to Rosberg] and now have three new engines is a super bonus."
Rosberg, who cruised to his sixth victory of the season, was happy to win on Formula One's return to action.
But the German will have expected to be within touching distance, and perhaps ahead of his rival in the title race, following Hamilton's punishment for exceeding the number of engines he is allowed in one season under the sport's complicated rules.
"It's not disappointing and I'm happy to have won the race," insisted Rosberg. "It has been a great weekend for me and that's it. Fair play to Lewis, he did a good job.
"Lewis starting from the back made it a lot easier, and I'm sure he's going to be back in Monza and it's going to be a big battle as always."