Hamilton thanks his wingman Valtteri Bottas following 5th F1 World title win

Lewis Hamilton has thanked his team-mate Valtteri Bottas for his help throughout the season. Bottas has played a major role in making Hamilton a five-time world champion which included handing over a race win in Russia last month.

Frustrations from Bottas were made clear. But at the same time, he confirmed he understood and would have liked Hamilton to do the same if it was the Finn who was challenging for the title.

Following the race in Mexico yesterday, Hamilton was quick to honour Bottas.

"At the core of me, I want to win the race by winning the race. Being let by in Russia was a horrible feeling for, I would say, I think everyone in the team," Hamilton explained in an interview on racefans.

"I think also for Valtteri it was not a great feeling. He just came up to me now, and we have such a huge respect for each other."

Hamilton went on to label their relationship as the "greatest partnership" in F1. It'll be interesting to see if Hamilton repays any favours in the next two race weekends. After all, Bottas is yet to win a race in 2018.

"There are times where I’ve figured something out in my set-up and I’ll tell [him] and there are times that I can talk to him and be open. It’s the greatest partnership in terms of respect and teamwork from drivers that I’m sure has ever existed in Formula 1 probably," Hamilton added.

Bottas could well have been in the title fight himself had things been different in the early stages of the season.

In Baku, Bottas was going on to win the race until his tyre picked up a puncture. And in Austria, he started on pole but was forced to retire. Hamilton confirmed he was aware of this and thanked his team-mate.

"He started out really strong and then he had some really difficult races. I think Baku, for example, was a huge hit for him. He deserved that win and then he [had] that tyre blow up.

“I’m very, very grateful to him as a team-mate and for the help that he has given me in achieving this incredible dream so a big, big thank you to him.”