London - Lewis Hamilton, the freshly-crowned Formula One world champion, said on Wednesday he was "very happy" that Barack Obama was elected US president.

"I'm very happy. I tried to watch it as much as I could. I have a huge amount of respect for the candidates and I was very happy and proud to see Obama at the front and congratulations to him," said Hamilton.

The 23-year-old Briton became the youngest and first black Formula One world champion last Sunday. (dpa)