Hamilton didn't think last to fifth charge was possible after “devastating” DSQ

Hamilton was excluded from qualifying in Sao Paulo because of a DRS technical breach after an issue with his rear wing.

The Mercedes driver cut his way through the pack, moving up to 14th after just over one racing lap.

Hamilton finished the sprint in fifth but will drop five places on the grid due to an engine penalty.

“Honestly had no idea what was possible,” Hamilton said. “I didn’t set a limit or a maximum, I think when I was at the back of the grid just before the formation lap I could maybe see like tenth and I was like okay that’s my goal, I will try and get as far as possible, all of a sudden was chipping away at it much faster, I really used a lot of different things for fuel today, I just can’t give up, you’ve got to keep pushing.”

After being disqualified on Saturday afternoon, Hamilton revealed it was “definitely tough” for the team to accept.

“It was definitely tough, and I think while the team were working away delegating with the stewards I was just trying to focus on the work with the engineers, and keeping the morale with the mechanics high, just focusing on the job at hand and not thinking about it,” Hamilton added.

“Of course just before I heard about the result and was devastated but you can’t let it hold you back, got to keep your head down and keep going, quickly reset, put my mind focused on doing what I could do and just giving it my everything.”

With Verstappen picking up two points in the sprint, he now leads Hamilton by 21 points with four rounds to go.