Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton celebrates after winning the race at the 2016 German Grand Prix in Hockenheimring, Germany, July 31, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Grabs points lead with sixth victory in seven F1 races

Lewis Hamilton admitted he was surprised at his own good fortune on Sunday after winning the German Grand Prix to take a clear championship lead into Formula One's annual European summer holiday.

"I hope everyone has an amazing holiday - I'm going to have one!" he said, shortly after posting an image on his Instagram page showing him sharing a surfboard with one of his dogs.

"I'll be on a beach, in the sunshine with a pina colada ... and I will be smiling."

Twenty-four hours after casting a sullen figure during his media duties after missing out on the pole position to Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, the champion's sulk had turned into pure joy.

Having won six of the past seven races, Hamilton now leads Rosberg by 19 points with a four-week break before the Belgian Grand Prix on Aug 28.

When informed of his big points lead, Hamilton responded with unbridled pleasure. "I had not realized that," he said. "That's awesome."

He went on to say his emotional reactions were about his own performances and not, as some observers had said, about being a sore loser.

"It's really good, isn't it?" he told Sky Sports TV. "It's really nice. I was 43 points behind. What a day! It's been a great race for me and I didn't expect to be so strong on this track."

Hamilton praised his team and thanked them for preparing his car and improving his starts. "I want to thank all of them," he said. "I'm so happy."

He added that in his 23 years as a driver he has learned what he needs to do for success - which explained why he was so joyful.

"You kick yourself when things go wrong," he said. "And today I looked after my tires, made no mistakes, I had no 'offs' or anything like that."