Carlos Sainz was delighted to secure sixth in the Drivers' standings after approaching the Abu Dhabi GP as a championship decider.

The McLaren driver started the weekend tied on points with Pierre Gasly following a thrilling season that has seen him score more points himself than any other midfield team.

And it was a fight that came down to the very last lap as the Spaniard passed Nico Hulkenberg into Turn 11 to claim 10th, giving him the final point to move one clear of the Frenchman.

“It was the most exciting final lap I think I’ve done, it was like a world championship for me,” Sainz said.

“I got close enough to Nico to throw a move into Turn 9 and decided to back out of it and try it in 11, but I didn’t get the run out of 10 that I wanted.

“So it meant I arrived too late and a bit far behind, and I said OK. I saw a gap on the inside, but it was really small, a bit like with Perez, so I said ‘OK, if it worked with Perez, I need to try to make it work with Nico.’

“I threw the move and made it stick. It’s crazy, at the end of the championship, we were fighting on the last lap, in the last overtaking opportunity of the track. I made it stick. It hasn’t been an easy race, but I’m very happy with it.”

Sainz's achievement is remarkable on several levels, not only that his 96 points put him five points ahead of the 91 scored Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo combined for Renault, who finished fifth in the Constructors' standings.

It is often forgotten that the 24-year-old was pointless after the first three races of the year and, most impressively, to finish sixth he's had to outscore Gasly and Alex Albon, who drove a race-winning car for around half a season each at Red Bull.

“I think in modern Formula 1, to beat two guys that were in a much faster car for 10 races each and still manage to get nearly 100 points and P6 in the championship, it’s something that before the year I couldn’t even think about,” he conceded.

“Coming into this weekend, I knew it was going to be tough, but I had a small chance, and we made it stick when it counted. So I’m happy about that.

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“Going into this weekend I had a bit of a world championship approach, trying to put myself under pressure for that, thinking this might be one day fighting for a world championship, and it worked well.”

The only burning injustice is that the live feed completely missed Sainz's crucial move to secure the position, with that lack coverage something that has been noted by many during the season.