Hamilton believes Sunday's fightback was "huge" for Mercedes team

Lewis Hamilton insists his fightback during the British Grand Prix was huge for his Mercedes team. Kimi Raikkonen hit Hamilton at turn 3 knocking him back down to P18. The British driver managed to roar himself through the field to finish second, minimalising Sebastian Vettel's point gain.

Vettel's championship lead only increased to eight points following the race. This could have been much worse for Mercedes and Hamilton, but their damage limitation plan worked well.

Following the double DNF in Austria, another Ferrari domination at Silverstone would have spelt serious trouble for the German team. The Brit spoke to Autosport and told them how pleased he was to limit the damage.

"We're in a tough battle this year, and it's the most intense battle that I think we've probably all had," Hamilton said.

"I'm very, very grateful that the car was still in one piece after the first turn three incident. Honestly, to get back to second it's huge for us. I will definitely take it, of course, and I'm happy with the drive that I did."

Even though Hamilton had spun, he still didn't expect to let the home fans down. His strong mentality was part of what helped him claw the 18 points back.

"I was last, and I still believed I could win. I had to keep that mentality to get back to where I was," Hamilton added.