Germany's Sebastian Vettel sobbed with joy after becoming Formula One's youngest world champion with a pole to flag victory in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The 23-year-old Red Bull driver lapped up the pressure under the Yas Marina floodlights to chalk up his fifth win of the season while Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the pre-race favourite for a third title, struggled home in seventh.
Vettel, adding the drivers' crown to the constructors' championship won the previous weekend in Brazil, ended up with 256 points to Alonso's 252.
Alonso, who was the overall leader before the start, paid the price for an early pitstop that dropped him to 13th.
The Spaniard then spent lap after lap trying in vain to find a way past Renault's steely Russian Vitaly Petrov while Ferrari held their breath and hoped for the rookie to make a mistake under pressure. It never happened.
Australian Mark Webber, Vettel's team mate, was eighth. He had been the first of the contenders to pit and also became bogged down in traffic in a race full of frustration for the 34-year-old.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who had to win in Abu Dhabi to have any hope of the title, finished second and was first to congratulate Vettel after they had stepped out of their cars.
Hamilton's team mate and outgoing world champion Jenson Button finished third in Abu Dhabi.
