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Reigning Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton says dealing with the realities of danger in motorsport after Anthoine Hubert was killed at Spa hit him in the "depths of my soul".

Drivers such as Daniel Ricciardo and Hamilton admitted during the Spa weekend that Hubert's passing had impacted them, with the Mercedes driver explaining his feelings on social media.

Hamilton says that while he has experienced tragedy in motorsport - racing when Jules Bianchi had his crash in the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix that led to his death, as well as karting alongside Daniel Spence who died in a race in 1994.

The Mercedes driver says his experience led him to post his feelings online.

"That's why I posted the things [on social media] because it's not impossible," said Hamilton, speaking to selected media including Autosport.

"I've experienced that [before]. "Obviously we had that in Japan [with Bianchi], we had that experience, but then I had another 11-year-old die on the race weekend when I was racing as a kid.

"So I'd experienced it before. And for a driver, it really hits you hard.

"I don't know how it was for the other drivers but, for me, it hit me in the depths of my soul. It was really hard.

"For the rest of that day and then the evening, I couldn't go to sleep, I just couldn't believe what had happened that day.

"I guess your mind is just working overtime, trying to get used to the reality of what has happened.

"And also to the fact that, look, we lost Charlie [Whiting] this year and Formula 1 just continues on, we lost Niki [Lauda] and the world just goes on.

"It's sad, I think, that that's how life is."

Following the events at Spa, Hamilton expressed frustrations that people did not appreciate the risks drivers take.

Asked to elaborate on those views, he said: "I think that's just in general in the world.

"I think you go to a sporting event, which is such a great event, but people turn up for the fun weekend.

"Some of them may not have even contemplated the fact that it's a dangerous sport, these guys could have an incident like that - because it doesn't happen so often.

"Back in the day, when it was happening all the time, it was 'ah, these guys are superheroes, it happens all the time, he dodged death!'.

"But whilst we are in a safer period of time in the sport, it is still there, still a potential possibility.

"I think just in life, as humans, I think we take lots of things for granted. All of us do. Even I do. It's just the way we are tuned.

"I arrive to my engineers and it's just a part of our weekend. We go through our cycle, I get in and I come out tired, it's just the norm.

"And if I get in, I crash, and I get hurt, it's 'oh my god'. All of a sudden it's a shock.

"I'm conscious of when I get in, that my days are numbered, you know?"