“This year the car was working well, but we had a lot of difficult races and that’s something I’m very proud of,” he said.

“The races where we weren’t the fastest car, we stuck together as a team, worked really hard, stayed calm most of the time and made almost no mistakes.

“We really maximized and maybe overperformed in some places, and our opposition in some places definitely didn’t get the points they should have and all those things matter when you’re fighting for a championship.”

Verstappen was praised by his rivals, who all said he deserved his title for such a strong season.

Norris said: “He made a few mistakes, but over the course of the season they are very few and far between and that’s what makes him so good.

“He hasn’t had a bad qualifying or a bad race. He just gets everything out of the car and it’s always impressive to see, there’s always things to learn.”

Verstappen said he expected next season to be “a real battle between a lot of cars, but I’m hungry.”

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner told BBC Radio 5 Live: “It’s incredible, he’s done an incredible job, he’s been exceptional all year and we’re very proud of him, he drove brilliantly.”

“He’s won eight Grands Prix, he won the World Championship with two races remaining, you can’t ask for more than that.

“He just gets in the car and he keeps his promises, he’s a great human. That puts him among the greats, the stats now put him there as well.”

“He’s just turned 27 and he’s in the form of his life, so as long as we can continue to give him a decent car, he’ll continue to deliver.”