Hamilton reveals penalty 'devastation' fuelled stunning São Paulo recovery

Lewis Hamilton bounced back from his qualifying disqualification in spectacular fashion using the "devastating" penalty as fuel for the fire.

Hamilton was forced to the rear of the grid for the final sprint of the season after failing a technical inspection of his DRS after the Saturday session.

With championship rival Max Verstappen starting at the front and finishing second to Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton dropped two points in the drivers' battle but limited the damage for Sunday's race by gaining 15 positions to finish fifth in the 24 lap sprint.

“It was definitely tough and I think I was, whilst the team were working away, delegating with the stewards, I was just trying to focus on my work with my engineers and keeping the morale with my mechanics high, focusing on the job at hand and not thinking about it," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 when asked of the difficulty of the day.

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

Hamilton will drop five positions for the start on Sunday after taking his fifth engine of the season, meaning he will start the grand prix 10th.

After lining up at the rear on Saturday, Hamilton conceded he had not expected to climb quite so high in the 100km sprint.

“I honestly had no idea what was possible," Hamilton added.

"I didn’t set a limit or a maximum. I think when I was at the back of the grid just before we pulled away for the formation lap, I think I might have been able to see 10th and I was like, ‘That is my goal, I’ve got to get as far up as possible’.

“Then all of a sudden I was chipping away at it much faster.

“I really used a lot of different things for fuel today but you can’t give up, you’ve got to keep pushing.”

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