Brawn: Title will make Hamilton stronger

Brawn, who helped guide Michael Schumacher to all seven of his record haul of titles, said that while Hamilton was 'understandably' tense during last weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix title finale, he would have experience to handle the pressure more easily in years to come.

"It does remove some of the tension," said Brawn. "I cannot really judge, but Lewis looked tight this weekend - and that is understandable.

"That won't be there any more.

"If he gets close to his next championship, he will know what to do, he will know how it works out, and he will just be stronger next time around. So it does help."

Brawn paid tribute to both Hamilton and his Ferrari rival Felipe Massa, adding that he could not remember such a dramatic climax to a world championship.

"It was the most exciting championship finale I can recall," he said. "So, to win it on the last couple of corners was sensational.

"It is great. A fantastic day for F1 and the championship was won in a fair and proper fashion with very little controversy this year, which is good for F1 as well."

Brawn also said that the tension of the moment was evident on the pitwall, despite having to focus on what his own team were doing in the final race of the season.

"We had a lot going on, we took a few punts on tyre choice which did not work out, but from our position in the race we did not have a lot to lose," he said. "But we did get drawn into it in the last couple of laps, especially when [Sebastian] Vettel got past Hamilton and realised the consequences of that, then you could see [Timo] Glock was in trouble.

"But both Felipe and Lewis are fantastic drivers to be honest. They have done the sport a credit, both of them, with their approach and their attitude. It is a shame that one of them had to lose as both did a great job."

Asked whether he thought McLaren had made the right call with strategy, given how close Hamilton came to losing the title, Brawn replied: "Well, I've been there myself - and you can make heavy weather of it. So I understand what happens, but they came close.

"I think if Glock had hung on for another couple of corners, which was fate really, then they would have been sat here wondering if they had called it right. But racing is like that."