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F1 fans tumble in desperate race to meet Hamilton

The Mexican Grand Prix's bizarre ending led to the scary scenes of hundreds of fans chasing new world champion Lewis Hamilton around the track.

Hamilton parked alongside race winner Max Verstappen and podium finishers Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen in a corner surrounded by grandstands.

While the quartet -- particularly Hamilton, who secured his fourth world title -- underwent TV interviews and celebrated with crew members, fans jumped the fences to surround the drivers.

It is common practice for this to occur but drivers usually park in pit lane away from the fans, who wait under the podium.

Hamilton celebrates with his mum. Pic: Getty
Hamilton celebrates with his mum. Pic: Getty

Keen for a moment to reflect on his title, Hamilton began sprinted away from the cars to reach the pits.

The fans followed, and the cameras showed one particularly eager fan crash into another to send them both tumbling onto the asphalt.

The man who caused the incident was so determined he actually rolled straight back up and kept running.

FULL REPORT: Hamilton wins fourth title despite collision

HISTORIC: Hamilton takes his place among the greats

FOUR EACH: Vettel's classy response to Hamilton's title triumph

Hamilton joined one of sport's most exclusive clubs when he became Britain's most successful racing driver of all time by claiming his fourth Formula One world title.

His ninth-place finish at the Mexican Grand Prix lifted him into the company of the sport's true greats as he joined his nearest contemporary rival Sebastian Vettel and Alain Prost as a four-time champion.

Only two drivers have achieved more - seven-time champion Michael Schumacher and five-time champion Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio - while Hamilton leaves behind a cluster of five celebrated masters of the track on three apiece.

To have won more than men like Australia's Jack Brabham, fellow-Briton Jackie Stewart, Austrian Niki Lauda and Brazilians Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna is a spectacular statement of achievement.

The son of a black father and a white mother, who survived a broken home in his youth, Hamilton, 32, grew up on a municipal housing estate in Stevenage where his father Anthony at one time held down three jobs to fund his son's embryonic racing career in karts.

"It doesn't feel real. It is not the kind of race I wanted, 40 seconds behind, but I never gave up," Hamilton said.

"That is what is important and in my heart. I am grateful for today."

with agencies