Sebastien Ogier revelled in a "beautiful" World Rally Championship title win, thankful his risk in switching teams paid off.

The Frenchman claimed a fifth championship after finishing third at the Wales Rally GB, extending his lead atop the drivers' standings to 32 points with one race left.

Ogier, 33, had won four consecutive titles with Volkswagen Motorsport before switching to M-Sport this season – a change that paid off.

"Emotion is something you cannot control," he said.

"There is something beautiful about that and I have to say that this was the strongest feeling of emotion that I have ever experienced in my professional life.

"It's hard to explain the feeling, but it is most definitely a good one."

Ogier is now outright second for most championships, passing Finns Tommi Makinen and Juha Kankkunen, while he sits four adrift of Sebastien Loeb.

While his decision to switch teams for 2017 may have been a risky one, Ogier said he and co-driver Julien Ingrassia had been proven right.

"Twelve months ago, we decided to take what could have been considered a risk," he said.

"We decided to team up with Malcolm [Wilson, team principal] and set ourselves a challenge.

"Today, we have succeeded in that challenge and know that we made the right choice."