Hamilton: Phenomenal job

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German Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton said he questioned the decision taken by McLaren Mercedes' to keep him on track during a safety car period which almost cost him the race.

Having started from pole position, the Briton was comfortably leading ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa at Hockenheim when Timo Glock crashed his Toyota heavily on lap 36.

With the safety car thus introduced, all the leading contenders pitted - bar Hamilton.

The team thought he was quick enough to build another comfortable lead upon resumption of racing. But his subsequent advantage was insufficient and, following his second stop, he briefly dropped to fifth.

However, he then set about fighting his way back and, with team-mate Heikki Kovalainen letting him by, Hamilton dealt with Massa and race leader Nelson Piquet in rapid succession.

He eventually took the chequered flag 5.5 seconds ahead of former GP2 adversary Piquet, with Sunday's result also handing him a four-point lead in the Drivers' Championship.

"I would have much preferred an easy afternoon but it didn't work that way," Hamilton later said.

"I got off to good start, the team opted for me to stay out and thought I could have pulled out a gap.

"I understood and just kept pushing - over the limit, pushing and pushing - but I couldn't find the gap.

"But I was able to pull it off."

Of the team decision to keep him out, Hamilton added: "I said 'are you sure about this', and they said fine. But we all have decisions and opinions and we'll learn from this one and move on.

"But we had the quickest car this weekend and we came out on top. The team has done a phenomenal job."