Fans arrived in droves, waiting for hours, to catch a glimpse of Vettel a week after he became the youngest F1 Champion at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

The Red Bull racer, who was greeted by cries of 'Sebastian, Sebastian!' as he came onto the stage, was honored in his home town by Heppenheim's mayor Gerhard Herbert, who handed him the golden book of the town, which has a population of just 25,000.

"When I was standing up there and saw all these people and they were all screaming and chanting, that knocks you out," the 23-year-old said.

"I didn't expect to see so many people, this makes me really proud as a Heppenheim boy.

"I have got goose pimples, this is better than Abu Dhabi, because there weren't so many people there."

The Red Bull driver became World Champion at the age of 23 and 135 days. The previous youngest was McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in 2008, aged 23 and 301 days.