Hamilton: Title win to have knock-on effect for 2019

World champion Lewis Hamilton believes that his own personal win and Mercedes' constructors' crown will have a "knock-on" effect for the 2019 season, as the Silver Arrows look to continue their dominance of Formula One.

Hamilton claimed his fifth world championship in Mexico a few weeks ago, his fourth with Mercedes and in Brazil last time out, Mercedes claimed their fifth constructors' on the bounce.

Mercedes equalled Ferrari's record of five successive doubles, with no team ever reaching six in a row... but Hamilton is hoping for just that next season, insisting this season's success may have a "knock-on effect".

"We win races, and we've been very fortunate to have a lot of success, but when we win everyone is quite quiet - happy, but quite controlled," Hamilton said. "This time it was just great to see everyone (celebrate). Everyone was just biting their nails through the year, so it was such an incredible effort from everyone.

"It's never been a given, you just have to keep working, keep churning away. That's what we did, kept hopes high and kept our targets very, very high.

"This should, will, have a great end to the year for us but also a great knock-on effect for next year."

Despite Ferrari having the stronger car before the summer break, Mercedes have had a dominant second half to the season, with Hamilton more than pulling away from his closest challenger, Sebastian Vettel.