Lewis Hamilton was left thanking his lucky stars for McLaren doctor Aki Hintsa after he saved his European Grand Prix.

Hamilton was almost forced to pull out of the debut Valencia event after arriving with flu, and then waking up with a neck spasm on Saturday morning ahead of qualifying.

It was Hintsa, who within McLaren carries the more grandiose title of head of human performance, who managed to take away Hamilton's aches and pains and shove him in the car.

The 23-year-old responded by claiming second on the grid, allowing him to finish as runner-up to Ferrari's Felipe Massa at the end of 57 gruelling laps on Sunday.

Hintsa described it as "a miracle" Hamilton made qualifying given the pain he was in, but it was ultimately the Finn who ensured he was fit to race.

"I've had a miserable weekend," bemoaned Hamilton.

"I had flu when I arrived, with hard fevers every day. I've been low on energy, and I also had quite a big problem with a spasm in my neck which almost led to me not racing this weekend.

"I woke up very early yesterday, around 5am, and I had this spasm, but fortunately I've a great doctor who was with me all the way through it.

"It was so bad I was even struggling to stand up, so I had to have injections in my neck and take plenty of painkillers.

"So I think eight points is a good effort. I thought I did a pretty decent job considering."

Hamilton felt the problem may have lay with the pillow he slept on at his hotel, which jokingly drew little sympathy from Massa and third-placed BMW Sauber star Robert Kubica.

Nevertheless, Hamilton admitted to being in pain throughout the race, suffering other problems en route.

"The track is not that physical, it was just that it was hot," said a perspiring Hamilton.

"There was not enough water in the car, and as we are in these big old suits, it was like driving in a sauna.

"It is was quite a hectic one-and-half-hour race, so I am pretty happy the way I got through."

Despite his problems the Briton managed to stretch his lead to six points in the championship, with Massa now his closest rival after Kimi Raikkonen suffered a blown engine 11 laps from home.

"The great thing is we came away with some strong points for myself and for the team," added Hamilton, who saw team-mate Heikki Kovalainen claim fourth.

That has allowed McLaren to close the gap on Ferrari to just eight points in the constructors' championship.

With six races now remaining, Hamilton said: "We are showing we have great reliability, and that is due to all the team doing a fantastic job."

The remaining points scorers were Toyota's Jarno Trulli, Sebastian Vettel for Toro Rosso, the second Toyota of Timo Glock and Williams' Nico Rosberg.