The title secured, Lando Norris admits that his nerves only crept in during the last couple of corners of season finale.

While the event itself was a damp squib, the fact is that the 26-year-old had achieved his lifelong dream.

"I did feel calm," he told reporters at race end. "I felt calm until three corners to go," he continued. "I started to shake a little bit, I got to think of all those incredible memories, very quickly, and then I got to see the team...

"And then I went over the line, thinking this is a moment that I'll never forget.

"I just laugh," he replied when asked to describe his emotion on finally winning the title. "It's tough to describe, it's tough to put in words. I just want to go and spend some time with my team, my engineers, my mum and my dad. I don't know what I'm going to say.

"So much goes into achieving what we've achieved today," he continued. "From all those years ago, when I saw Formula 1 on the TV, when I saw a go-kart for the first time. You know, my memories of the last couple of laps were just that. It took me back to where it all started. Because I wouldn't be here without my parents, the sacrifice they've done. My brother, my sisters, the amount of times they text me, I don't get back to them. You know, just everything. Everything that leads into achieving what we've all achieved today.

"This is not my World Championship, this is ours," he insisted. "This is where I get to say thank you mum and thank you dad. They're the ones who sacrificed so much to let me be the lucky boy that I am today.

"I feel proud," he said. "I don't feel proud because I'm going to wake up tomorrow and go 'I beat everyone'. I'm not proud because I get to just say I'm a world champion. I'm proud because I feel like I made a lot of other people happy.

"I made my engineer, Will, you know, like Jarv as well. They don't get to see their family much. They've seen me grow up more than they've seen their own kids grow up. I feel bad about that. The fact that they put so much effort into making me perform and helping us all perform. The fact I get to make them feel like their time has been hopefully a little bit worth it. That's what makes me so happy.

"I really hope it doesn't change anything I do," he added. "The way I think. The way I do things. I believe I won the championship this year my way. By being a fair driver. By trying to be an honest driver."

At the press conference he was asked about his habit of wearing his heart on his sleeve, his self-criticism, a factor that many thought might handicap his title hopes.

"That's one of the things that makes me most proud," he replied. "I feel like I have just managed to win it the way I wanted to win it, which was not by being someone I'm not. Not trying to be as aggressive as Max or as forceful as other champions might have been in the past - whatever it may be. I'm happy. I just won it my way. I'm happy I could go out and be myself and win it Lando's way, as Andrea would tell me. That certainly makes me happy.

"Could I have gone out and been more of that person you probably want me to be at times? I could have done. I would have been less proud about it in some ways. So, that's why I'm very happy with myself. I kept my cool, I kept to myself, I kept the focus on myself, and I got the most out of how I am.

"I know at times I say some stupid things, and I say some things about Max, or I might have said some things at times in the past that everyone talks about, about Lewis. Some things I regret and I wish I could take back and never have come out my mouth. But I honestly believe I give more respect to anyone else than anyone else. I give more respect to Oscar. I give more respect to Max. I try and give as much respect as I can to Lewis... he's seven-time world champion. He's the best driver, you compare him to Schumacher, the best driver that's ever been in Formula 1.

"I'm not even close to that. I might never be. I dream of those kind of things. I dreamed of today, and I've managed to achieve one of seven, comparing to him. And do I regret some of the comments I might have said in cooldown rooms or whatever it is? Yes. But a lot of those are in the heat of the moment. And by the time I've said it, I've gone, "Why the hell did I just say that?" So, I try and be as genuine as I can.

"I try and always speak the truth. I never try and give you guys false understandings of things. If I think we're going to win, I'm going say, "I think we're gonna win." If I think Red Bull are going be fast or probably going to be fast, I'm going to say it. I'm trying to honestly always, I have no gain by trying to hide things from you guys. And, you know, deep down, do I really hate when you write crap about me? I do. It's also life, and I've learned to live with some of those things more. And I also value that everyone has their own opinions-whether they like me or not or think someone else is better or not-like we just spoke about.

"What I'm happy is that I did things my way this season. I won it in my way, my style of just trying to be a good person and a good team member. And I'm proud about that. No matter what other people want to write about and say about it, no one really knows the truth apart from the people on the inside, in terms of what's going on.

"I don't need to listen to those things. So, as long as I know I've done a good job, which I have now proven to myself I have, then that's the only thing I really need to listen to. Is now myself and my team. And that's all I need."

Other than those final three corners, Norris was asked about other moments of stress during the race.

"I know certainly moments where I was like, 'Okay, Tsunoda's up next'," he said. "We knew from before that Tsunoda might try and do it, try and hold me up and make my life difficult like Perez did to Lewis just a few seasons ago.

"So a lot of that was in our script and estimations already. But I managed to get through pretty quickly. And it was a bit close. It got pretty close. And it's crazy thinking about it, because they do think about it straight away. You're like, 'Damn, if that was five centimetres closer-it's over'.

"And that's when you get to the end of the race, three laps to go, four laps to go, I stopped taking any kerbs because I'm like, if that just makes one piece of the car undo itself, it's over. That kind of thing.

"So, I'm like, 'Should I go for fastest lap on the last lap? Maybe'. It's not worth it. A lot of those things go through your head. I had to make some fairly decisive overtakes and commit to a few things. But again, the championship was not won today. It was won by my consistency this year, by my great races over the last four months or so. It could have been an easier race. It also could have been a harder race.

"But sometimes, yeah, it was just another race on the calendar for me. It was a fun race, but I tried to really treat it as, 'Okay, it's just another race today', like I said, and tried to stay calm through it, which I feel like I did, and tried to just maximise my result."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Yas Marina here.