Lewis Hamilton hopes Formula 1 will return to Mugello after surviving "three races in one day" to win the Tuscan Grand Prix.

The world champion initially lost the lead to Valtteri Bottas at the first start but regained it after the Safety Car and would survive two red flags in a chaotic race to move within one of Michael Schumacher's record for F1 wins.

“That was all a bit of daze,” Hamilton told David Coulthard in parc ferme.

“That was like three races in one day. It was just incredibly tough. This track is phenomenal, the heat, keeping Valtteri behind, who has been quick all weekend was not easy…and obviously I was behind him at the beginning.

“All those restarts…total focus was needed during that time. It was really, really hard.

“The first stint I was fine managing my tyres. I didn’t really need to stop, it’s just that the team were worried because Valtteri had a problem," he explained.

“And then you obviously see the things unravelling those next few laps. Then the last one starting on the soft, which was a used tyre and not know how far that was going to go, Valtteri appeared out of nowhere when I saw Danny [Ricciardo] behind and he was on it.

“There were times I was looking after the tyres and Valtteri would close up, so keeping that one-second gap, because this is a long, long straight, I didn’t want Valtteri to have DRS.

“My heart is definitely racing and it is crazy to be here and have 90 Grand Prix wins.”

The high-speed corners of Mugello combined with the Tuscan heat were expected to provide quite a challenge for the drivers physically, and Hamilton was feeling it at the end.

“I’m pretty exhausted to be honest, hat was one of the craziest races I’ve had," he continued.

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“Anything could have happened on those restarts but fortunately I got the best start [at the end]. But even after that, still, Valtteri was there the whole time.

“If I had made any mistake, Valtteri would have slipstreamed me down the straight. Today was physically and mentally one of the most challenging days I’ve ever experienced."

As it stands, this weekend was just a one-off trip for F1 to the usual venue of the Italian MotoGP race but the Mercedes driver was hopeful it wouldn't be the last.

“I like it. I don’t know how it was down the rest of the field but it is an incredible circuit," he said. "I would love to come back.”