Lewis Hamilton says it was a “privilege🍰” and an “honour” going head-to-head with Sebastian Vett𓆉el for the 2018 Formula 1 world championship.

Hamilton c🀅laimed his 11th win of the season by fending off Vettel in the Abu Dhabi finale, having already beaten the Ferrari driver to his fifth drivers’ world title with two races to spare in Mexico.

The Briton endeꦯd the year 88 points clear of Vettel, who cam🌟e under fire for a number of key errors throughout the season, most notably crashing out of the lead of the German Grand Prix in July, which Hamilton went on to win from 14th on the grid.

Hamilton once again moved to def♔end his chief title rival, who he praised for “always racing his heart out”.

“It’s been a real honour and a privilege racing against Sebastian,” Hamilton sa🃏id.

“I’ve known h🥂im since Formula 3 days and he’s always ꧟been an honest, hard-working racing driver and he has always raced his heart out.

“He did a fantastic job this whole 🌟season. There’s so much pressure on us all, so don’t ever look at our shortcomings as anything less than us giving our best and Sebastian did.

“I kn🌄ow next year he’s going to come back st🦩rong, so I’ve got to make sure I come back with him, but I’m really grateful for the time.”

Vettel s𓆉aid it was a shame he had not raced wheel-to-wheel with Hamilton more often 🧔during the season.

“He’s the champion and he deserves to be the champio♈n,” Vettel added. “It’s been a tough year. I tried everything until the last lap and I really⛎ enjoyed it.

“Catching a little bit, a little bit, but I think he✤ controlled the pace🅰 at the front. I would have liked it to be a little more wheel-to-wheel but yeah, a long year, a lot of races.

“Congrats, and as he said I will try, we will try, I think o🉐ur whole team will try to come back stronger to make sure we give him a harder run into next year.”

The pair swapped F1 helmets to show their 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:mutual respect for each other following tꦿhe Abu Dhabi Grand🦋 Prix.