Beaten Hamilton says Turkish GP his best yet

By Alan Baldwin

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - McLaren's Lewis Hamilton hailed Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix as his best race yet in Formula One despite finishing only second after worries about tyre safety.

"I probably drove the best race I've ever done," the 23-year-old Briton, winner of five of the 22 grands prix that he has started, told a news conference.

Hamilton, who suffered a costly blowout in last year's Turkish race, was forced to make an extra third pitstop as a precaution after Bridgestone expressed concern about his front-right tyre.

However, last year's championship runner-up, in a sensational rookie season, said second place was more than he had hoped for at the start.

"It doesn't particularly matter whether you win or not. It's whether you drive 100 percent, it's whether you extract the most out of the car," he said when asked why he considered it his best performance.

"It's one of those where you end the race and you ask yourself and the team: 'Could we have done a better job?' And I strongly feel we couldn't.

"The pitstops were almost perfect ... I just feel my race pace is getting stronger and stronger over the year," continued Hamilton, who overtook Ferrari's race winner Felipe Massa after his first stop.

"My predicted race finish was fifth and it could have been a lot worse. If I didn't get away second, I'd have probably finished sixth or even worse.