Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton sprays champagne after the race at the 2016 German Grand Prix in Hockenheimring, Germany, July 31, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Miserable

Just a day earlier, he was explaining why he seemed so miserable as reporters asked him if he was hurt by losing the pole to Rosberg.

"No, it doesn't hurt," he said. "For me, it's like when you write a bad story - you get hacked off by it. Or if you make a mistake.

"I'm not down. I'm just not happy with my own performance. I felt I was quickest and I had the speed and I brought it to qualifying, but I didn't deliver it. I have to handle that."

Hamilton said he had been kicking himself about his qualifying failure and felt he had let himself and his team down. But, he added, he did not dwell on the past.

"I have a lot of guys back at the factory, and also my main guys here, my mechanics, who work to build my car, who were hoping to get pole.

"I've got my engineers who work until 1 or 2 am every night.

"It's a lot of weight when you don't deliver the way they have delivered. That's where I am in my head."

He said he never felt threatened during Sunday's race and deliberately managed his lead at around six seconds in the closing stages.

"I was taking it easy," he laughed. "I turned the engine down when I could from the start and only put it up in the final stint.

"I figured six was enough. It was more than I expected and more than I needed ... but I'll take it every time."