Despite storming to an impressive second place at last weekend’s British Grand Prix following a disastrous first lap and falling back to 18th place, world champion Lewis Hamilton never gave up on finishing at the top of the podium.

Wheel spin scuppered Hamilton’s launch from pole position, but worse was to come for the Brit; Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen clipped his Mercedes at turn three, spinning his vehicle and sending him to the very back of the pecking order.

What followed, however, was a stunning drive.

A mere five laps after crashing, Hamilton had forced his way back into the points positions, and on lap 53, was in second place and threatening to nip at eventual race winner Sebastian Vettel’s heels as the race entered its metaphorical back-straight.

Hamilton’s Mercedes suffered no damage despite the first-lap spin and was handled expertly by the four-time world champion as he promptly navigated his way through the pack.

"Obviously, we’re in a tough battle this year and it’s the most intense battle that I think we’ve probably all had but I’m very, very grateful that the car was still in one piece after the Turn 3 incident,” he said.

Hamilton applies a will to win whatever the circumstances that often sees him achieving results that would otherwise be considered beyond the realms of possibility.

Commenting on his work ethic, Hamilton said: "I was last at that point, but I still believed that I could win – and I needed that mentality to make it back.

"At the beginning, I thought I’d lost something on the rear end but when I looked at the car afterwards, it seemed to be OK and it was driving better and better throughout the race."

Although victory was marginally out of reach on this occasion, Hamilton was still pleased with his day’s work.

"To get back to second is huge for us and I will definitely take it, of course," he said.

"I’m happy with the drive that I did and as I said, what the team were able to do but, yeah, we’ve just got to work harder."

Mercedes’ inspired decision to keep Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas on the track after Vettel had pitted following a late safety-car was the difference between finishing second and finishing third or fourth, and went some way to make up for mistakes made in the not-too-distant past.

Commenting on the call by his team, Hamilton said: "The guys pitted in front of me, that was an opportunity for me to get up into third.

"I think it was the right decision.

"If I’d followed them in, I would have come out behind them, we’d have equal tyres and I would have struggled to get by them and most certainly wouldn’t have been second."

Mercedes were lambasted following a disastrous Austrian Grand Prix last week; Hamilton did not pit under the Virtual Safety Car while his rivals did, a mistake which eventually led to Vettel taking position over Hamilton on lap 39.

His misery was complete when his car lost fuel pressure, forcing the Mercedes into race retirement.

A confidence boost was required and duly delivered by the Mercedes team, and Hamilton will go into the German GP at Hockenheim on July 22 only eight points behind his rival.