Lewis Hamilton revealed he backed off in the closing stages of Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix after Sebastian Vettel’s devastating tyre failure.

Hamilton claimed his sixth victory of the season to extend his lead over Nico Rosberg to 28 points in the championship.

But the 30-year-old said he coasted to the chequered flag after Vettel’s blowout on the penultimate lap.

“At the end I saw there was a blow-up so I was being very cautious with my tyres,” Hamilton, who started from pole, said.

“I was being very cautious with my tyres. I’d done pretty well up until then so I was just going to make sure I brought it home.

“There was no real need to push any more than I was already. I had a comfortable gap and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if it is won by a tenth or won by 10 seconds.”

On Sunday, Hamilton bounced back from his Hungary horror show in emphatic fashion in Formula One’s first race back after the summer break.

He saw off the challenge from Force India’s Sergio Perez on the long run down to Les Combes on the opening lap, and from there he never looked back.

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was the surprise name to join Hamilton and Rosberg, who finished in second, on the podium. The Frenchman was a late beneficiary of Vettel’s harrowing tyre failure.