Lewis Hamilton was greeted by a mass turnout of the Mercedes workforce when he visited the team headquarters at Brackley and Brixworth on Monday.
"This is a very emotional day. I was not expecting this," Hamilton said, adding it was a day he would never forget.
"I could not imagine working with a better group of people," team principal Toto Wolff told the assembled crowd. "I would like to say thank you very much to all of you."
"I’m really proud of everyone," added non-executive chairman Niki Lauda. "It’s an incredible achievement. This year was the most difficult one so far.
"Next year it will be even more difficult, but I trust the team 100 per cent!"
