Lewis Hamilton admits it was "with great difficulty" that he rebounded from a poor Austrian Grand Prix to claim victory a week later in Styria.

The world champion was in a class of his own on Saturday and Sunday, taking pole by 1.2s in the wet in qualifying and then holding a comfortable lead throughout the race to score his first win of 2020.

For Hamilton, it was the perfect reply after two penalties impacted his first part of the doubleheader at the Red Bull Ring, but he says achieving it was far from easy.

“With great difficulty,” he told Sky Sports on how he refocused. “But when there is a will there is a way. The last weekend definitely was psychologically challenging.

"To have the penalties and to be called to the stewards on the Sunday morning just before the race and get a penalty there and then another one in the race…it’s never easy," he admitted.

“But there is nothing you can do about the past. All you can do is focus and channel your energy to the future."

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And that, the Mercedes driver later explained, was how he was able to build confidence across the second weekend in Spielberg.

“When you’re doing a good job and you’re doing it to the way you know you can do it, it’s definitely a much better feeling," he said.

“I honestly feel like I prepared the best I could for last week, but ultimately there were some scenarios or choices that could have been better made, or better circumstances or a position I could put myself in, and there was just a domino effect of these things that often tends to happen.

“This weekend started off in a positive frame of mind. Obviously FP1 was good, FP2 was a bit of a disaster, but I sat with the guys afterwards, we didn’t throw any toys out of the pram, we sat there and dissected the data, try to understand, we pull together. It felt positive going into Saturday.

“It was rained out, and I was just hopeful we could get out and qualify. I was actually quite happy that we didn’t have FP3 because that gives everyone else less time to practice, and I knew what I’d be able to do if qualifying started.

“That’s what I did I just kept my head down, didn’t make any mistakes and then obviously today with the same mind frame as yesterday of course it’s much different starting from first than fifth.

“Leading from the front is a different scenario, but I’ll definitely take it. It’s a different type of management, a different type of race.

“Perhaps not fun for you or the fans to watch. I wouldn’t say any less challenging for myself, just different, and I try to perfect it the best way I could today, and I think I got everything and more from it.”

The final thing that gave Hamilton great satisfaction from Sunday, is his relatively poor record in Austria, having not finished on the podium since his only other win there back in 2016.

“I don’t why there are some tracks where drivers are stronger at some than others, but this is one of my weaker circuits. So to have a performance like this today…I’m over the moon, so happy," he added.

“I also know though that there is a long way to go.”