Sebastian Vettel has promised he and Ferrari will do all they can to beat Lewis Hamilton in 2019, after following the Briton home to second in Abu Dhabi.
The German had a quiet race at Yas Marina with a move on Valtteri Bottas for his P2 finish the only moment of note, race winner Hamilton was also out of reach having benefitted from an early pit-stop under a Virtual Safety Car.
Having completed some donuts for the fans on the cool-down lap, this season’s title contenders spoke with David Coulthard with Vettel praising the Mercedes driver.
“Lewis is the champion and he deserves to be the champion,” he said.
“It has been a tough year. I tried everything to the last lap, catching little by little but he controlled the pace at the front. I would have liked it to be a bit more wheel-to-wheel.”
Looking forward to next season, Sebastian added: “A long year, a lot of races.
“I will try, we will try, the whole team, to come back stronger and give him a harder run into next year.”
Joining the top two on the grid post-race was Fernando Alonso as the Spaniard bowed out of Formula 1 after 17 years.
“Well done to Fernando, these last years have been very tough for him, we have missed him and we will be missing him,” Vettel commented.
“Well done on his career.”