Hamilton was running fifth in the early stages but, along with initial race leader Max Verstappen, he was one of several drivers who pitted under green-flag conditions just before a safety car emerged.
Many of his rivals were able to make cheap stops and, by the time it had all shaken out, Hamilton had tumbled to 10th.
Under the safety car, he inevitably sounded frustrated on the radio. However, at the restart, he put that disappointment behind him and immediately gained three places, including one from Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
Later he passed Lance Stroll after the Canadian made a mistake, before chasing Carlos Sainz for the rest of the race, and eventually finished sixth.
But Hamilton admitted that the timing of the safety car wasn't easy to take.
“Naturally, because so much work goes into the weekend and then yesterday was a difficult day where you went backwards, and then today I was hoping for a better day and I lost so many places, that's definitely a kick in the teeth,” he said when asked by Autosport about his initial reaction.
“But then I was like, ‘well, it is what it is’. I think today shows that the hunger is there. And once I get that confidence in that car, the pace will come out.”
Source: Autosport