Lewis Hamilton brushed aside a question about his tax affairs on Thursday and said winning his fourth Formula One title had yet to sink in. The Mercedes driver has scarcely been out of the headlines since he won the championship in Mexico last month and his name was then mentioned in the "Paradise Papers", a trove of leaked documents about offshore investments. Back in the paddock at the Brazilian Grand Prix after a break with friends and family, Hamilton said he still had to pinch himself when he thought about the title. "I guess the reason it's not really sunk in is because I've kind of tried to stay in the zone, really," he told reporters at Interlagos, which hosts Sunday's penultimate race of the season.

F1 World Champion, Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton (L) embraces Viviane Senna - sister of late Brazilian F1 driver Ayrton Senna and President of the Ayrton Senna Foundation, after a press conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 8, 2017 ahead of Sunday's Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix. Pic/AFP