ABU DHABI -- After missing out on the 2017 title, Sebastian Vettel says he and Ferrari have learned valuable lessons this year.
Vettel's slim chances of winning the title slipped away at the Mexican Grand Prix three weeks ago when Lewis Hamilton was crowned world champion, but the major damage was done in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan when he scored just 12 points from three races.
Apportioning blame between driver error and reliability issues has been discussed within Ferrari's management hierarchy, but Vettel says both sides have learned lessons for 2018.
"We've been close for most of the year but not close enough when it mattered," Vettel said. That is what has happened.
"I think from that we made our conclusions and learned our lessons so I believe those will help us next year. We are completely fired up for it.
"It was bitter but now I think it was good to have a couple of races at the end of the year to approach and look forward to next year. We'll see as everyone will be pushing very hard for next year and I am sure we have the right people as we proved we have that this year. It all starts again next year so let's see."
Mercedes heads into the final round of the season in Abu Dhabi 130 points clear of Ferrari and Vettel is under no illusion that closing that gap next year will be tough.
"The level is very high and Mercedes has been very competitive for the past couple of years and again this year despite a regulation change which helped us to get a bit closer. For next year it is the same story that we need to make that step, that final step is always the hardest, but that is why we are here and the name of the game.
"The people at Maranello are ready and fired up. We have some good projects in the pipeline, some will come quite soon but that is the normal fight."