As previous Formula One world champions heaped praise on Jenson Button for the way in which he won the drivers' title in Brazil on Sunday, Britain's tenth world champion can contemplate asking for a £5 million pay rise - once his hangover passes.

Button was described as "the playboy world champion with the winning smile" by Damon Hill, the world champion in 1996, who was impressed by the driver's determination to seal the title with a race to go.

Button finished fifth in a thrilling Brazilian Grand Prix, having begun the race in fourteenth place, which earned him enough points to see off the challenge of other drivers.

The success was all the more remarkable given that at the end of last season Button was without a team after Honda's decision to withdraw from the sport. It was only when Ross Brawn, the former Honda team principal, staged a management buy-out in February to create a new team that Button was able to take his place on the grid.

Plaudits rain on Button for title win

Formula One paddock united in its approval of the new world champion despite his struggles in the season’s latter stages

• Flavio Briatore ready to fight for his future

• Jenson Button: from promising teenager to world champion

• Jenson Button is crowned Formula One world champion at Brazilian GP

Now we know. Button has the heart of a winner

The Brawn GP driver has finally silenced those critics who said that he would never drive like a true world champion

• Jenson Button is crowned Formula One world champion at Brazilian GP

• Jenson Button: from promising teenager to world champion

• Jenson Button enjoys race of a lifetime

Related Links

• Button is crowned world champion in Brazil

• From promising teenager to world champion

Multimedia

• DEBATE: is Button a worthy world champion?

• IN FULL: Button's F1 triumph

"It's a very happy story," Hill told BBC Radio 5 Live. "Jenson's a lovely guy and he's the playboy world champion with the winning smile. I think everyone feels good for him.

"He got accused of not taking it seriously but I think he showed everyone how serious he is inside."

Hill was impressed by Button's race yesterday after the Somerset-born driver had been criticised for being too conservative in the second half of the season. "Jenson really put his stamp on it," Hill said. "He showed everyone that he was determined to win this one and wasn't going to have it given to him."

Button earned the "playboy" tag after a decade of underachievement in Formula One. He made his debut in 2000, aged 20, but did not win a grand prix until 2006, in his 114th start. He continued to impress teams, however, and was earning £8 million a year with Honda despite finishing fifteenth and eighteenth in the past two seasons.

When Honda withdrew from Formula One, Button, who is estimated to be worth £30 million, had to take a pay cut to £3 million, but insiders expect him to return to the standard of remuneration he once enjoyed after this success. His celebrity girlfriends have included Louise Griffiths, Florence "Flee" Brudenell-Bruce and Jessica Michibata, the lingerie model he is presently dating.

Button pledged his loyalty to Brawn for next season. “I want to be here next year and I want to be with a team that can challenge for victories like this season,” he said. “Brawn can do that. These guys are not one-hit wonders. We’ve some sensationally talented people in our team.

“We might not be big like other teams, but that will be a benefit to us next season as the teams have to get smaller and we have the right amount of people for next year.

“But I haven’t talked to the team seriously about anything for next year. We wanted to get this out of the way. I will sit down and discuss it when I’ve got over my hangover.”

Sir Jackie Stewart, world champion in 1969, 1971 and 1973, said that Button's drive on Sunday after a disappointing qualifying session was "a very clever race".

"Through the debris of the other accidents he passed people, which is not characteristic of current Formula One," Stewart said.

"He paced himself correctly but at the same time he did it in a calculated, smooth and careful fashion. That's how you win world championships.

"He did it with quiet dignity as well, even at the time when he was getting battered around on the basis that, after the first seven races of which he won six, there couldn't have been a higher pinnacle to be on - then suddenly there was nothing coming in the way of wins."

Hill said winning the title would be tough for Button to come to terms with.

"It's not something that immediately you can adjust to because you spend so long striving for this goal that actually seems totally unobtainable.

"In Jenson's case and Lewis' case, they started when they were kids, way before Jackie and I even got in a car, and they had this goal and once you pass that goal it's very difficult to readjust your mindset to putting it in the bank. It can't be taken away.

"I'm absolutely stunned even now. It's something which lives with you for the rest of your life and you appreciate it more as time goes by."