As he remorselessly creeps up on Michael Schumacher's record of 91 wins and 7 titles, it's fair to say that over the course of his 259 Grands Prix, Lewis Hamilton has seen pretty much everything.

However, the Briton claims that the Tuscan Grand Prix was one of his "most challenging" races.

"It felt like I had three races in one day," said the Briton, who now enjoys a 55-point lead over his nearest rival, teammate, Valtteri Bottas, "I'm pretty exhausted, to be honest.

"I didn't do a good start the first time," he admitted, "then we had the rolling start which wasn't good, then we had the second start from second, and that obviously was better.

"Then I had a seven-second gap or whatever it was, and was pretty comfortable with that gap and new tyres, and then another red flag.

"Of course anything could happen on those starts, but fortunately I got the best start finally of the day. Valtteri was still right there the whole time, so if I made any mistakes, he would have slipstreamed me up this 1,000 metre straight.

"Today was physically and mentally one of the most challenging days I've experienced.

"Valtteri was so quick all weekend," he continued, "so keeping him behind, the starts and stops that we had, I wouldn't say it was very easy to stay in the zone.

"But I'm really, really grateful to the team for running up an down the pit lane," he added, referring to the need for his crew members to aid him on the grid at the original start and subsequent restarts. "We had the furthest to go, and with their composure, I think they did an amazing job.

"I'm just proud to be a part of it, and really proud of the performance today. It was not easy keeping these guys behind."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Mugello, here.