Lewis Hamilton says he upped his game in all areas this season in order to take the fifth title of his career.
Fourth place at the Mexican Grand Prix was enough to secure Hamilton the championship on Sunday, making him just the third driver -- alongside Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher -- to have won five titles or more in Formula One. Four of Hamilton's five titles have come with Mercedes in the last five years, but he believes this season was his most complete yet.
"Absolutely, it's definitely been the best year," he said. "Ultimately that was the goal, I won the championship last year and thought how the hell am I going to improve?
"How am I going to be fitter? How can I be more focused? How can I manage my time better? How can I just be better all round, a better driver in the car but also with my team, in the garage, with the engineers, back at the factory, trying to be a better son and friend?
"In all areas, I think this year I have been able to lift them all up. I don't know if that's something that comes with age but I'm sure that helps. I honestly feel like I've performed my best this year so I'm very happy with how it's gone."
Hamilton is now just two titles away from Schumacher's record of seven championships and 20 wins away from the German's record of 91 grand prix victories. Although both targets are achievable in the remaining two years of his Mercedes contract, Hamilton said he hadn't yet come to terms with the scale of his latest achievement.
"Oh my God, let me just try and realise first that I've won this one!" he said when asked if he was going for seven titles. "I don't know why, it's very, very weird.
"I remember when I won a championship in European Formula 3 years ago, even then It didn't register. I hope that this kicks in soon, I'm definitely getting more excited as I think about it more."