Hamilton sealed his third F1 World Drivers’ Championship with the team with two races to spare, triumphing over Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel.

The team had already taken the constructors’ title after Ferrari fell away due to reliability issues.

And Hamilton believes both he and the team showed a different side of themselves in the 2017 battle.

"I would say I was more assured of myself this year,” Hamilton told Sky Sports.

“I think that comes from a lot of different things: getting older, confidence in your work ethic, relationships with the guys you're working with.

"We had a bullet-proof plan and structure of how we were doing things, a new resurfaced positive energy in the team that hadn't been there for a while.

“Plus we were fighting another team so we were super encouraged to go that extra distance."

After three years of battling with team-mate Nico Rosberg for the title, a fight that soured their friendship, Hamilton has also spoken of his respect for Valtteri Bottas.

The Finn came over from Williams after Rosberg suddenly retired in the wake of his maiden F1 title and finished third in the points overall.

Instead, Hamilton’s main challenge came from Vettel and the Brit admitted the battle had extra significance as their first wheel-to-wheel title fight.

“I knew right from the beginning it was a key year,” Hamilton added.

“I knew that I had to be at my best.

“I also knew what I was working with and there was no doubt in my mind about the impact it would have, the significance of beating a four-time world champion and Ferrari in the heat of this kind of battle.

"My whole mindset was there's a four-time world champion we're competing against.

“There's no-one else in my view or in my mirrors, it's just him and it's going to take everything to extract everything from the car weekend in, weekend out.

“If I don't he will and also he's going to be consistent because he's a four-time world champion so I've got to be even better and try to raise the bar every time."