Lewis Hamilton had assured everyone his family would not be with him on the biggest weekend of his Formula One career - but they thought otherwise.

As the Mercedes driver took the checkered flag in Abu Dhabi for his second title, father Anthony, brother Nic, stepmother Linda and girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger were there to celebrate.

The night before, Hamilton text messaged his father to say he was thinking of him.

"I went out to the beach and I was messaging with him and I said 'Guys, I would love you to be here but just know I'm here working away. I'm trying to make you proud,'" he said.

The message dropped onto Anthony's mobile just as he and the rest of the family were on the runway and awaiting takeoff on an Abu Dhabi-bound plane.

"He didn't know we were coming," said Anthony, wearing a champion's T-shirt with the rest of the team. "We decided that we were not going to come. We wanted him to be fully focused on the job.

"But then I just figured it would be nice to be here for him, win or lose. He's going to need somebody.

"If you lose, he needs us. If he wins, he's still going to need us. And so we booked the plane, got on it and here we are.

"I am even more proud because he's done it on his own. He's had lots of family support but he's made the decisions himself, he's driven the thing himself and he's now a double world champion," added Hamilton senior.

The double champion said he was not really surprised.

"My family are the ones that got me into racing, they're the ones that sacrificed everything to get me to where I am today," he said.

"Who you see today is because of them, so being here without them didn't feel right. They have every right to be here to enjoy it with me."

Hamilton declared Sunday the greatest day of his life after ending a thrilling season with his second Formula One world championship.

If winning the first title with McLaren after a last-gasp move in Brazil in 2008 was special, the triumph under the Abu Dhabi floodlights was something else again.

"The feeling I have now is way, way past that and above and beyond," the Mercedes driver said, holding back tears. "It's the greatest feeling ever. I'm grateful to God, I'm grateful for my car finishing and really, to everyone, thank you so much."

Hamilton made the start of his life, rocketing off the line and away before teammate - and closest points rival - Nico Rosberg could react.

At the finish, with Rosberg out of the points and wrestling with engine troubles, he lapped the floodlit circuit with the British lag fluttering from the cockpit.

The win was Hamilton's 11th of the campaign, with Mercedes winning a record 16 in total, and made him the first British double champion since Jackie Stewart in 1971.

"This has been an incredible year. I just cannot believe how amazing this has all been," he said.

"This is the greatest moment in my life ... it feels very surreal. It feels like an out-of-body experience.

"I feel like I'm back here watching this going on, it's not really happening."