"Maybe because I'm Black"

"I've just been to the stewards to make peace. What I said was a bit of a joke, which wasn't funny at the time.

"I made them aware that when emotions are high, and it's very intense at the end of those kind of races, you don't always say the right thing, and the joke didn't come at the most appropriate time.

"So I went there, made that clear to them, we've made our peace.

"They accepted my explanation, they understood.

"We all shook hands afterwards."

By way of further explanation, Hamilton added: "I'm passionate. I drove my heart out. The weekend was tough. It started out perfectly, and I finished the race, but only just.

Hamilton could have faced a charge of bringing the sport into disrepute.

Asked if he wished he had not made any racial references, Hamilton reflected: "Like I said I was trying to be funny, but it wasn't funny. You're not always right when you're trying to be funny.

"Sometimes you really put your foot in it and you offend people, and I did not really set out to offend anyone."

"People want to see racing," he said earlier. "But you get done trying to put on a show, trying to make a move.