Sebastian Vettel ready to savour win after F1 whirlwind

Sebastian Vettel is finally ready to relax following a whirlwind 48 hours in the wake of becoming Formula One's youngest world champion.

Vettel, team-mate Mark Webber, team principal Christian Horner and design guru Adrian Newey initially flew to Salzburg on Monday, home of owner and Red Bull billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz.

After a party for 1,000 people, the quartet then yesterday conducted their first press conference since their heady night at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Immediately afterwards they were whisked off to the factory at Milton Keynes where they were reunited with the 700-odd staff who played a part in the team's success in winning both the drivers' and constructors' titles this season.

Reflecting on what has unfolded, Vettel said: "The past couple of months have been a unique experience for me. I have experienced great moments I will never forget, but there were also some difficult situations.

"I am very proud of what we have achieved, a great moment for me and the whole team. I'm now looking forward to some relaxing moments to realise what's just happened. Now is the time to enjoy the success."

Vettel has claimed his rivalry with Webber, which resulted in those "difficult moments," was exaggerated during the course of the year. That was despite their crash in Turkey which sparked the furore and remarks from the Australian at various stages in which he felt the team were favouring the 23-year-old German.

Confirming he had spoken with Webber since winning his title, Vettel described it as being good for both of them. He added: "We were able to put it all into words quite well. It would be wrong to say that what happened during the season was all rubbish and now everything is rosy. Of course there were moments, but it never went as far as people on the outside thought."

Webber was certainly in magnanimous mood, saying: "We both wanted to become world champion and therefore we pushed the whole team to perfection. At the end of the season, we are honestly able to show respect for each other's performance, which is very important. Congratulations to Sebastian, he really deserves the title."