Sebastian Vettel shows his class as he congratulates Lewis Hamilton

Sebastian Vettel has led the tributes to Lewis Hamilton after the Mercedes driver was crowned a five-time F1 world champion.

"He drove superb all year and was the better one of us two," said Vettel. "I told him 'well deserved' and to enjoy it.

"Number five is something incredible. I asked him to keep pushing for next year and be at his best to fight him again."

Vettel immediately congratulated Hamilton after Sunday's Mexican GP and, in a further act of classy sportsmanship, entered Mercedes' debrief to congratulate the Silver Arrows team.

Hamilton recalled: "He came over and the one thing I remember him saying is 'don't let off, I need you fighting with me next year', which I respect naturally.

"It was a true showing of sportsmanship and great respect between us. That's great to happen with multiple world champions, two competitors who have gone head-to-head.

"It's been a hard year and he has fought so well, he drove fantastically well today and I know he's going to go from strength to strength so I've got to keep staying on my toes and keep trying to come back."

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Vettel said: "There can only be one winner and he is the one who deserves it this year.

"There are still a lot of lessons to learn, and we need to make sure we make the right conclusions. We are very talented and gifted team, we have the most support behind us, we have huge potential - of which some still needs to be unleashed.

"We are fighting very hard. But we will try to beat Mercedes in the Constructors' Championship and knock them off their throne to give them a taste for next year."

But Vettel's crushing disappointment was writ large in the post-race press conference as he reflected on his defeat.

"This is not a very happy day for me, but one thing is being down and another is not being able to get back up, and I know that in two weeks I will be back up and try my best to finish the season well," he said.

"It's a horrible moment. I've had three times now in my life that sort of disappointment, where you realise that you can't win the championship any more and those are not happy days.

"You reflect not on one moment but the whole year: the work that goes in, the effort that goes in from the end of the last year until now and we had our chances. We used most of them, some we did not. But in the end we were not good enough."

Reaction to Hamilton's title triumph

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