Both Honda and McLaren admit a sense of relief that they can now move on after a difficult three-year partnership and concentrate on their new respective projects for 2018.

2017 was the final straw for the British team as major flaws with a design overhaul of the Japanese manufacturer's engine left them struggling to simply finish races for much of the year. Further pressure was applied following missed deadlines for fixes and improvements and ultimately, in September, the two agreed to part ways. 

Honda will remain in Formula 1 with Toro Rosso and, before it was announced he would be stepping aside from his role in a company shake-up, now former head of the F1 operation, Yusuke Hasegawa is keen to see a continuation of the progress made towards the end of the year.

"Relief, yes. It is good to concentrate on next season," he said when asked how he felt after ending the McLaren chapter. "You might not believe us but I don't think we have a human issue. We have a very good relationship with McLaren.

"I don't feel anything like it's a fresh start, it's just up to us to concentrate now on making our engine better, so from that point of view it is no different, we still have a huge pressure from the inside and the outside.

"I'm pretty confident to work with Toro Rosso as well and it is exciting. It is a new challenge and having more information and creating new relationships with a different group is very exciting."

Hasegawa does admit regrets that the reunion of what was once a dominant partnership in the 1980's - early 1990's didn't work out but hopes that will drive Honda to keep improving in the future.

"I've always mentioned we have no plan to modify the engine concept so from that point of view we've already started next year's engine development, so it's not a big difference actually for our development group," he told Autosport initially on the impact of changing teams.

"Of course it's unfortunate they [McLaren] decided to choose a different engine for next year but this is part of the strategy for them and we need to respect that and we need to be a strong manufacturer so that they and other teams want to choose us in the future."

As it is McLaren will be using Renault engines in 2018 and the chance to move on from what has been a very frustrating spell of his career is also very welcome for Fernando Alonso.

"Obviously every season when you arrive at the end and you didn't meet the expectations, it's kind of a good feeling because it's turning the page and going for the next goal, the next target," the double world champion said.

"Clearly for next year, we have high expectations, different goals, different probably philosophy of getting into the car and designing the car also over the winter. Many things are ongoing; all of them make us quite optimistic. So it's nice also the season finished now and we can concentrate fully on 2018."

Pascal Wehrlein believes the lack of pace in his Sauber car meant he was unable to show his talent to other teams and ultimately cost him his place on the Formula 1 grid.

The German scored all of the Swiss team's points in 2017, however, using a year-old Ferrari engine, would rarely move up from the back of the grid as the power deficit and delays in chassis upgrades saw Sauber fall off the midfield battle.

That meant, even when he drove well, Wehrlein's results were still no better than on a bad day and therefore, they went unnoticed.

"Even if we had a good race in the second half of the season, you couldn't see it as the gap was too big," he claimed. "For example at Suzuka, I was lapped by the second last guy. What can you do there?"

Twice the former DTM champion would score points, using a clever strategy to claim eighth in Spain as well as emerging from the mayhem in Baku with the final point in 10th, but Pascal doesn't think they were his actual best races..

"In terms of the result it was the best race of the year," he said of the Barcelona race. "[We] scored five points when we could score points, that's important but probably in the second half of the season I had better races but you couldn't see it.

"Malaysia was one of them, we were close to Q2 and the race was quite good," he continued. "[Brazil] was quite good in terms of performance. There we were not so far from Q2 I think, just one or two tenths."

Related Stories:

• Former Sauber boss Kaltenborn claims Wehrlein still F1 champion material

Wehrlein's future at Sauber was always doubtful, after arriving as a last resort following the collapse of Manor at the start of the year, so it was no surprise when it was confirmed he would be leaving and Ferrari junior Charles Leclerc would be arriving as part of the new Alfa Romeo partnership.

During the year, however, the 23-year-old was put in a difficult situation with claims his teammate Marcus Ericsson was being favoured due to his association with owners Longbow Finance.

Though he wouldn't talk about those claims directly, Wehrlein insisted he was always giving 100% while at Sauber.

"I was always giving my best. I think that's the most important thing you can say about yourself. When the opportunity was there we took it," he said.

"You can always do things better. With more experience you think, 'Ahh, one or two races ago I was doing this direction with the set-up. Now I know this was worse, I should have gone in this direction'.

"You always learn something," he added. "But I can definitely say I was always giving my best."

Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene wants Ferrari to adopt Mercedes' winning "habit" in the coming years believing the mental approach of expecting over anticipating is a key to the German manufacturer's success.

2017 saw the Scuderia make a significant leap towards their first championship success in a decade, using the major changes in car design to move level with Mercedes at the front of the grid, claiming five wins with Sebastian Vettel in the process.

Ultimately, however, maintaining both pace and reliability proved the difference as two engines problems in Malaysia and Japan following the start crash in Singapore saw the season swing hugely in Lewis Hamilton's favour and he would take the title with two races to spare.

But now with a taste for victories, Arrivabene wants that to become the norm for the Italian team, identifying it as one the most impressive aspects of Mercedes' run of success.

"I think, how you tend to respect the team that have won four Constructors' Championships and four Drivers' Championships, it's normal that they are strong," he told ESPN. "For that, I have a lot of respect but it could be even better if we're able next year to fight with them and finally to win.

"I think one of the strengths of Mercedes, apart from the brand they're representing, how the team is organised, is also their habit to win. Sometimes you are going to have a pole position and it becomes an event, pole position must become a habit and not an event. This is what I mean for a habit to win.

"It doesn't have to be perceived as an event, the victory, or the pole position. It must be the natural result of the work that you are doing. In this way, I have a lot of respect for them but in this way, we know what we have to do for the future in our side."

Related Stories:

• Brawn claims F1 won't back down on changing engine rules despite Ferrari threat
• Vettel reveals mental "struggle" following Baku incident
• Mercedes see matching Schumacher/ Ferrari era success as motivation

Now sitting as a regular contender at the front of the grid, the key for Arrivabene and Ferrari is to ensure they can maintain it over a full season - having won more times in the first six races than they did in the proceeding 14.

That fact isn't lost on the team boss either, who admits progress, no matter how great, is only measured by the amount of silverware in the cabinet.

"Of course the number of pole positions and so on they are important somehow but the most important is the championship," he said.

"The good number that we have at the moment is demonstrating the good job by the overall team but the fact that we were not able to win the championship means that it's not enough, so we have to push forward to next year to do it better."

Brendon Hartley believes the hectic schedule he had with eight races in eight weekends until the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a "perfect introduction" to life in Formula 1.

The Kiwi was a surprise choice to replace Carlos Sainz after the Spaniard joined Renault from the United States Grand Prix but his race performances at Toro Rosso impressed the Red Bull hierarchy and earned him a full-time seat alongside Pierre Gasly for 2018.

While competing in the final four races, Hartley combined that with outings at the Petit Le Mans in America and the final three rounds of the World Endurance Championship, in which he became world champion with Porsche for the second time.

Once that run of races came to an end, however, the 28-year-old admits it was a good experience ahead of the stresses of what will be the joint-longest F1 season in history in 2018.

"The learning process was steep and very important. It was tough, I’m not going to lie, especially with eight weekends on the trot," Hartley said collecting his WEC trophy at the FIA prize-giving gala last Friday.

"That was a good experience for me, to learn what that takes out of you and what areas you need to improve. It was the perfect introduction into F1 in terms of preparing a season, having some real racing experience to start next year."

Now, finally with his big chance in F1, after a failed attempt with the Red Bull program earlier in his career, Hartley faces the prospect of a Toro Rosso team that will be using Honda engines next year.

Despite all the problems the Japanese manufacturer have had with McLaren, he insists he remains positive about the prospect based on the progress made and future potential.

"I’m looking forward to having a bit of a break, recharging the batteries, and coming back strong next year," he began. "I’m hearing a lot of positive things out of Toro Rosso and out of Honda and I can’t wait to work alongside them next year, and hopefully prove my worth in F1."

Esteban Ocon has played down suggestions by Force India teammate Sergio Perez that he will face more pressure to achieve in 2018 following an excellent first season with the Silverstone-based outfit.

The young Frenchman would score points in all but two of the 20 races in his first full year on the grid, but higher scoring results for Perez would mean he finished 13 points clear of the former European F3 and GP3 champion.

Now having established himself as one of the hottest prospects for the future, Ocon will have to live up to that standard in what will likely be an even more competitive midfield with the likes of Renault, Haas, Toro Rosso and Williams all expected to battle Force India behind what could be the top four teams if McLaren make their anticipated jump.

However, he is taking in his stride and only sees room for improvement with the additional experience now under his belt.

"I feel alright if everyone is watching me for that so people are expecting me to do well which is always positive," the 21-year-old said. "I don’t have more pressure, I will work the same way with the team with dedication and train the same way.

"I won’t change much, except that I’m a different driver now compared to the beginning of the year. I’ve been learning so much more which will help me at the start of the year like knowing the tracks – Australia, China, Monaco – all that will help me."

Off the track too, he is developing and claims he will be more meticulous in his approach to racing.

"You can’t let any details hang there. Any small issues, you can’t leave it," he commented. "They will come back bigger, so any details you can fix, you have to fix. That is what I’ve learnt this year and put into my performances."

Such has been his impact, many are already tipping him as a future Mercedes driver, where he is part of their young driver program. With Valtteri Bottas only on one-year contracts, that also opens the door for the likes of Ocon to potentially enter should he impress enough, but Motorsport boss Toto Wolff doubts that will be in 2019.

"Esteban is one of our drivers and is therefore in the picture, but the team and all of its strength is behind Valtteri," he told Finland's Turun Sanomat newspaper.

"If we to start thinking about other drivers, it would mean that the emotional side would not be 100 percent for Valtteri but I can assure you, from the board to every team member, we all want Valtteri to succeed.

"Together with Lewis, he is our driver and we do not think of any others."

Lewis Hamilton has offered his biggest hint yet that his next contract, currently being discussed with Mercedes, could well be his last before retiring from Formula 1.

The topic of the world champion and retirement has been ever-present in 2017, following the shock decision of his former teammate Nico Rosberg to hang up his helmet after the 2016 finale.

Throughout he has maintained his love for F1 has been reinvigorated by the battle with Sebastian Vettel this season and the likelihood of future fights with the likes of Max Verstappen, however, now 32 and known to have aspirations away from the sport, the vision of owners Liberty Media appears to go against what Hamilton wants.

“I think about what is ahead of me and I have spoken to those who have retired early, those who retired late and everyone says to stay in as long as you can but that's not going to happen," the Mercedes driver was quoted by the Daily Express.

"The seasons are getting longer and longer and you see the things I do outside, which take a lot of my energy and time. I’m enjoying what I'm doing now, I enjoy being with this team, I love racing and I still feel at the moment I'm driving at my best.

“So while the car is in this form of rules until 2021 at least, I think that’s going to be the window I’m still here," he claimed. "Who knows? Maybe in 2021, I’ll hand the baton over to [Mercedes junior] George [Russell].

“He’ll be there anyway before then but yeah, I’m going to keep going.”

One thing that is for sure is we won't see Hamilton wearing Ferrari red before his career ends despite occasional links to Maranello, with the four-time champion wanting to see out his stint in F1 with the one company that has been present throughout.

"I cannot imagine moving to Ferrari and I do not think that will change," he told Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper. "I have been connected to Mercedes for 13 years, which is longer than many other employees and longer than any other driver in F1.

"I am proud that I work for them and I hope I can finish my career here," he added.

His relationship with the German manufacturer moved to a new level after becoming the team leader so to speak, increasing his interaction with the engineers and helping to push development.

Hamilton is thriving in that role, however, and is ready to take on even stiffer competition from Ferrari, Red Bull and maybe elsewhere next season.

"The greater the pressure on me, the more critical the situation, the better it is for me," he claimed. "Mercedes is in great shape right now and I don't see anything that could change that."

Formula 1's Managing Director of Motorsport, Ross Brawn has claimed the sport's bosses will not back down from changing the engine regulations for 2021 to appease Ferrari.

The Briton, who is a former Technical Director at the Scuderia, was responding to the threat by the Italian team and also Mercedes to pull out of F1 if they don't agree with the direction it is taken in, particularly pointing to what it sees as a standardisation of certain elements as well as the financial aspect of another change.

However, Brawn admits he was taken aback by the ferocity of the backlash by the current manufacturers who he said agreed to the ambitions F1 bosses had with the proposals they announced.

"I was pretty surprised by these reactions," he told Germany's Auto Bild. "I was in some of the meetings and I thought the direction was clear. Everyone agreed unanimously on the new goals that the engines should achieve and we based the new rules on that."

He is confident there is room for negotiation and compromise with the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes but was keen to make one point clear.

"It's like a restaurant where some like the appetiser but not the main course and vice versa," Brawn believes. "That's why there are new discussions taking place now. If the manufacturers offer better solutions we are open, but staying with the current power units is not an option."

Explaining why, he suggested "60 to 70 percent" of F1 fans wanted to see a return to a noisier engine while also trying to attract new manufacturers, with the likes of Aston Martin and Porsche linked, with simpler and cheaper units to produce. 

That means Brawn continued, the sport has to put its own interests at the top of the priority list rather than bowing out to keep the likes of Ferrari happy.

"That's a rhetorical question," he said when asked about Chairman Sergio Marchionne's quit threat. "Of course we do not want to lose Ferrari. Ferrari benefits from F1 and F1 benefits from Ferrari but every partnership has limits.

"So it's a matter of what Ferrari can accept and what we can accept. We want to find solutions that keep everyone in F1 and above all, we don't want to lose any iconic teams. They are an important part of F1 and we must respect and listen to them."

Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli has announced the compounds it has allocated for the opening three rounds of the 2018 season, the Australian, Bahrain and Chinese Grand Prix's.

Following on from the two-day test in Abu Dhabi after the final race, it is a first look at how the Italian manufacturer will look to use what is an expanded range of tyres for next year with the introduction of a new pink-striped HyperSoft and a SuperHard, though the latter is considered more of a backup tyre should the cars exceed the expected level of development.

Neither will be seen at the first trio of races, however, with Pirelli choosing the same UltraSoft, SuperSoft and Soft compounds as used last year around the streets of Albert Park for the season opener.

This choice isn't too surprising given running has still been limited on the new HyperSoft and it would be bold to choose it for a layout which, despite being low grip, does feature some high-speed corners.

Also with the rubber itself being a step softer for 2018, this means the compounds are more representative of 2016, where the same three tyres were used Down Under.

In Bahrain, the SuperSoft, Soft and Medium will be brought, which is also a repeat of the 2017 choices. The circuit in Sakhir is one of the hardest races of the year on the rear tyres with multiple traction zones, warm temperatures even at night and an abrasive surface.

Finally, for Shanghai, Pirelli has again chosen the Medium and Soft for the harder tyres but, in a first since the three-compound rule was introduced, will skip the SuperSoft and has chosen the UltraSoft instead.

This is an aggressive choice around another traditionally high-degradation circuit, due to several long-radius corners and high-speed sweeps. If the purple-striped tyre works well there it could start a trend for the rest of the season.

Sebastian Vettel believes many inside Formula 1 need to calm down and accept the sport doesn't need record numbers of overtakes to be exciting, following statistics which showed a near 50% fall in 2017

The major overhaul in car design allied to more durable tyres meant there was only 435 overtakes this past season compared to the record total of 866 from the year before which also included one more race.

What also didn't help was a processional final race in Abu Dhabi which many considered to be the worst of the 20 rounds and was blamed on the two factors mentioned and also the track design.

Pirelli has already made efforts to make the tyres a greater performance differentiator by going one step softer with their compounds while Managing Director of Motorsport, Ross Brawn has also begun research on changes both to the cars and circuits which could enable greater overtaking but the Ferrari driver believes it is being overhyped.

"A wish for next year is that everybody calms down," Vettel told Autosport last week. "Some races are boring, so what? I don't see the problem in that. I don't think we need another record, another record every race, to have more overtaking and more overtaking.

"It's true that overtaking [is hard] sometimes, especially if you're behind and you're fast and you can't get past for those reasons, it annoys you but then again if you make the move there is a massive reward inside the car, sometimes out of the car.

"What I want to say is that overtaking should be an achievement and not handed to you," he added. "Sometimes just relax and calm down and accept a boring race or a boring two races in a row and then there will be another great race after that and another one."

Former teammate Daniel Ricciardo agreed with the German, pointing out it is tough to get the balance between a fast, challenging car like F1 has thanks to the current designs while also making overtaking easier.

"I think Seb's right in some ways, that's just the way it is and that's the way some tracks are laid out," said the Australian. "I think the wider cars and all that look great and they've given us more downforce and grip but when they take up more space on the track you have less clean air to try to find so it does make following harder so that one is good and bad."

World champion Lewis Hamilton is adamant something must be done, however, after being one of the main critics of Yas Marina following the season finale yet also criticised DRS by suggesting his comeback in Brazil was dull because his moves were so easy.

"On the racing side, I hope moving forwards, overtaking gets easier," he said. "Not easier, but being able to follow each other is really what the sport needs. The more overtaking the more fun it is for people to watch."

Robert Kubica's hopes of a Formula 1 return are set to be dashed with Williams now likely to sign Renault reserve Sergey Sirotkin for 2018, according to reports.

Both men drove for the Grove-based team during the post-season test in Abu Dhabi and though many overlooked the Russian's presence, it appears his pace at Yas Marina, which was believed to be quicker than the Pole's, allied to around $15m in backing has now made him the favourite to replace the retired Felipe Massa.

At only 22, appointing Sirotkin would mean Williams did not meet what many thought to be a mandatory requirement of their partnership with title sponsor Martini of having at least one driver over the age of 25 for promotional purposes, but that now doesn't appear to be an issue.

To miss out, however, would be a major blow for Kubica after completing a number of F1 tests this year, firstly with the Renault team in the summer and more recently with Williams. The former Grand Prix winner also enlisted the help of 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg onto his management team.

His pace during his first outings in an F1 car since his near-fatal rally crash in 2011 has been impressive but lingering concerns appear to remain along with the attractive proposition but forward by Sirotkin.

One report still suggests Kubica could be in the frame if the F2 driver's financial backing deal was to collapse but another claims Daniil Kvyat would be an alternative as he also has strong backers despite leaving the Red Bull program this year.