Lewis Hamilton has reacted after finishing ninth at the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
The five-time race winner had gone into the main event hoping to help Mercedes finishing second in the constructors' championship.
And despite Hamilton enduring a difficult day, George Russell's performance meant they were able to achieve that goal.
Russell finished third, behind only Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, with Sergio Perez, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda, Hamilton and Lance Stroll also making up the top 10.
Lewis Hamilton finished ninth at the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
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Hamilton has now spoken out after the race.
And the 38-year-old sounded alarmingly downbeat when talking to Sky Sports, admitting it's been a season to forget.
"Not particularly," he told the broadcaster when asked if he takes any satisfaction from Mercedes finishing second in the constructors' championship.
"Not too much. It's not been a great year in general.
"The fact I survived it [is the biggest positive for him to take]. Probably that's about it."
Hamilton was also quizzed on whether Mercedes are capable of challenging Red Bull next year.
The Stevenage-born racer continued to sound downbeat, admitting he's unsure if they've got what it takes to push their rivals all the way.
"At this moment, I don't really know," he admitted.
"For Red Bull to win by 17 seconds and they haven't developed their car since August is definitely a concern.
"We have learned a lot about the car and it's just down to the team now.
"They know what they need to do. Whether or not we will get there, we will see."
While Hamilton sounded pessimistic about the future, however, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff feels there's plenty to be happy about.
"I mean we have a gap to the leaders, but the two teams in Brackley and Brixworth are so motivated, we have so much good things in the pipeline, so much new things," he stated.
"I am in a really good place to see what’s coming together.
"We’ve got to take the momentum from here and take that momentum into the factories."
Verstappen, meanwhile, has admitted he found the final lap of the season 'emotional' after dominating F1 throughout the season.
"[It] was an incredible season, it was a bit emotional on the last lap," he confessed.
"The last time sitting in the car which of course has given me a lot.
"Of course, very proud to win the final race, I have to say thanks to everyone at Red Bull it’s been an incredible year.
"It will be hard to do something similar, but we definitely enjoyed this year.
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Lewis Hamilton was unable to prevent Max Verstappen from winning the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
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"It will be very hard to have another season like this, we know that, you always want to do better, but doing better is not always race wins and winning the championship.
"We are working hard for next year for a very competitive car.
"For sure all the other teams want to try and beat us next year, but we are ready for the battle and in the meantime we’re going to enjoy this year as well."
