Lewis Hamilton has revealed that a poor start at the Spanish Grand Prix meant that he had to resort to "damage limitation".

The world champion started behind teammate, and eventual winner, Nico Rosberg on the grid, but found himself trailing Sebastian Vettel as well by the first corner.

However, Hamilton was able to recover and finish second, and the Briton has suggested that his podium position was a reasonable result.

He told reporters: "Obviously I had quite a poor start. It's been a long time since I've had such a poor start. I tried my best to recover - I nearly dropped back to fourth, so I was very fortunate to keep third - and then it was just about trying to fight.

"Unfortunately, this track isn't very good for overtaking. Actually it's the worst for overtaking. You cannot get close enough, even with DRS. Fortunately towards the end it was enough to get it done on a three-stopper, I was able to get by, but if I had been behind him [Vettel] in traffic I wouldn't have got past.

"I'm grateful I could gain those points for the team, and it's kind of damage limitation for me, so it's not bad."

Hamilton still leads the drivers' standings by 20 points from Rosberg.