Lewis Hamilton believes his British Grand Prix victory has provided him with “a fresh start” as this season’s challenge for the Formula One championship heads into the second half of the campaign.

Heading to Silverstone trailing Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg by 29 points after a run of races that had left him playing catch-up, the 29-year-old emerged with the best result possible.

With nine races gone and 10 to go, starting with this weekend’s grand prix in Germany, Hamilton heads to Hockenheim with renewed heart, and only a fourpoint deficit to Rosberg.

“Winning at Silverstone was just an incredible feeling – for myself, the team and the fans, I couldn’t have asked for more,” said Hamilton. “I feel like I’ve been on the back foot all year, only briefly leading the championship despite taking the wins I’ve had, so to have got myself just about level was exactly what I needed.

“It’s almost a fresh start heading into the second half of the season and it’s going to be a really close battle between us.”

Rosberg knows the momentum he had built up since Monaco has evaporated in the space of one race.

He said: “Although it wasn’t the result I wanted in the end, my weekend in Silverstone was really encouraging. As a team we made all the right calls in a difficult qualifying session and the balance of the car felt very strong until I was unfortunately forced to retire.”