Lewis Hamilton insists he did nothing wrong in holding up team-mate Nico Rosberg during the closing stages of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver needed to win the final race, but have Rosberg finish fourth or lower to take the title. However with his team-mate second and clear of those behind, Hamilton slowed to give Rosberg's rivals a chance to close the gap and possibly pass.
Both Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen came close to getting past and were both within a second of Rosberg, prompting Mercedes to demand Hamilton up his pace or risk losing the race win.
Hamilton defied those comments, responding: "Right now I'm losing the world championship so I'm not bothered if I win or lose this race."
The three-time champion insists he did nothing wrong in doing what he needed to do to win and admitted he was disappointed that the team got involved in the battle.
"I don't think I did anything dangerous, I don't think I did anything unfair," he said. "We were fighting for the championship, I was in the lead so I control the pace. Those are the rules.
"I don't know why they didn't just let us race. There was never a moment where I felt I was going to lose the race. It is a shame that it is quite clear their thought process… and I don't have much to say to be honest."
Hamilton says he would never do anything to harm the brand or cost the team a victory, but on the otherhand he needs to consider his own championship.
"It was pretty chilled at the end. It may have been intense for you but not intense for me. For me, I am in a position where I had a lot of points lost during the season so for me I am out there fighting and generally never try to do anything to harm the team or the brand.
"But we won the constructors' championship so it was down to me and Nico today. However they felt they still needed to make comments. We will discuss it afterwards as we always do."
Hamilton went on to congratulate his team-mate on his maiden title.
"Nico had a very clean year without any real issues to be honest. That is why we sit in this position right now," he added. "He did a fantastic job, congratulations to him. It's a great feeling to win the championship."
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