Lewis Hamilton’s F1 title wins royal approval from Prince Harr\y

PRINCE Harry paid a surprise tribute to Lewis Hamilton on his car radio seconds after the British driver joined the greats of F1.

Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo has Force India's Nico Hulkenberg in his mirrors in Abu Dhabi.

PRINCE Harry paid a surprise tribute to Lewis Hamilton on his car radio seconds after the British driver joined the greats of Formula One by becoming world champion for a second time on Sunday.

The English driver, who had been involved in final race championship deciders twice before, ­including in 2008 when he clinched his first world title, endured a nerve-jangling night at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton confessed that the tension became overwhelming when the Mercedes car belonging to Nico Rosberg, his teammate and championship rival, faltered.

“I was rubbing the cockpit and saying, ‘come on baby, you can make it’,” Hamilton confessed. “I did that a few times but I had complete faith that things would go with me.

“The car was feeling good and then at the end I could push and win the race.”

With nerves on millions of sofas in Britain soothed and the new world champion confirmed, Prince Harry grabbed a radio from the Mercedes pitwall crew.

“Lewis, thank you for not making the British public sweat. You are an absolute legend. Well done, mate,” he said.

Niki Lauda, a three-time world champion and now the Mercedes chairman, had warned Hamilton that he would not sleep before this championship decider.

“When you go through the race and come here, there is so much pressure,” Hamilton said. “You try to ignore it and keep your eye on the ball. Niki was right — I didn’t sleep. I went to bed about 1am and woke up at 5am and went for a run. I felt for sure I will be tired when I got to the race but, somehow, I felt ­composed.”

Hamilton revealed his second world title meant more to him than the first he won with ­McLaren six years ago.

“It means so much more than the first one — it feels so long. I feel so blessed,” he said.

“It has been an incredible year. It feels like an out-of-body ­experience.

“I did not hear anything Prince Harry said. It was very cool, I’m very grateful. It’s unreal, it’s ­incredible.”

This was the climax of a ­thrilling season, dominated by Mercedes and fought out to the bitter end between teammates whose confrontations have often been tempestuous.

Rosberg was crushed, the tears welling as his car struggled with a broken ERS battery-power boost system and he slipped down the field to finish 14th.

Rosberg was a dignified loser, leaving his car immediately to climb to the holding room before the podium ceremony to congratulate his teammate.

“Perhaps things will naturally ease up a little now,” Hamilton said. “Nico was gracious enough to come and see me after the race, which I appreciated. That was tough because I know what it is like losing a championship.”

Daniel Ricciardo heads into the off-season with the praise of Red Bull team boss Christian Horner ringing in his ears for a “phenomenal” drive in the 2014 ­finale.

Starting from the last row on the grid, the young Australian charged through the field to finish fourth. Ricciardo gained 16 places during the race and finished only 37 seconds behind Hamilton — eight seconds off the podium — having produced the fastest lap of the race.

He and Red Bull teammate ­Sebastian Vettel had been relegated to the tail of the field by stewards who deemed the front wings on their cars were too flexible following qualifying.

“It was an incredible recovery after the circumstances of Saturday, signing off a fantastic season for Daniel, finishing third in the world championship and an unbelievable year,” Horner said.

“It was a drive that epitomised his season.”

Ricciardo admitted he could hardly have asked for more after finishing the F1 championship behind only dominant Mercedes pair Hamilton and Rosberg, picking up three race wins among eight podium finishes along the way.

“It’s been as perfect as it can be without holding a world title, so no real regrets, no complaints,” he said.

“It’s nice to not only start the season well, but to finish it well also and I think all the way through it was good.”

The Times, AAP