The last race of the year was won by Max Verstappen.
Max Verstappen says he received a hug from Lewis Hamilton after winning the Formula 1 title.
Verstappen won the title despite arguments over the rules after a late-race safety car period cost Hamilton the title.
"Toto sent me a text to say that I deserved to win and that was very nice," Verstappen said. Lewis is a great sportsman according to the Red Bull driver.
Verstappen was talking in his first news conference since becoming champion, and he admitted that he was suffering a little after partying through the night.
He understood how much Hamilton would have been hurt.
The Briton was on course for the title after leading for most of the race, but lost it on the final lap.
Verstappen said it helps if you have already seven titles. That makes him feel a bit better.
If it was the other way around, it would have been worse for me because I didn't have one.
Lewis came up to me and gave me a hug. It must have been very difficult. It shows the respect we have for each other.
We had a tough season but we were pushing each other to the limit and it was enjoyable racing against him.
The Mercedes protests were rejected by the race stewards.
The team has until Thursday to decide whether to appeal the decision or not.
There needs to be clarity going forward.
Mercedes objected to the fact that Masi had not followed the normal procedures for operating the safety car.
Mercedes could not risk taking the lead because it would have cost them it, and Hamilton was exposed to Verstappen, who had fitted fresh ones when the safety car was deployed.
The race would have been stopped and Hamilton would have been the champion if the rules had been followed correctly.
Verstappen said that the controversy did not affect his win.
He said that it was a part of the whole season and that it had been like that a few times.
It is what it is. Sometimes that's racing. Nothing really changed for me. We won it on the track. We didn't do anything wrong. When there was a green light, we raced. It was enjoyable for us.
I could see my lead getting smaller because we weren't the fastest team anymore. It has been difficult.
Last year some races didn't feel like work-out, but this year most of the races have been flat out between me and Lewis - it has been completely different physically.
When we jumped out of the car, we were run down, but that's how it should be.
Verstappen expressed his gratitude and commitment to the team, who made him the youngest F1 driver in history at the age of 17, after he had a phone call with Red Bull co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz.
Verstappen said he hoped they could do this for many more years together.
