(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 8 - Charles Leclerc said he had done his best in climbing from 19th at the start to 3rd place at the finish behind Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz in third and they had been hoping to win the constructors' title but McLaren's Lando Norris, who led from the start to win the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Priz and give the British team their first title since 1998, had been too strong for them.
    "I knew I had to be aggressive on the first lap to find myself in a good position for the rest of the race. We did it but we were too far back to do more. We did our best, unfortunately it wasn't enough and that hurts", said the Monegasque, who will be flanked by joint-record seven-time world champ Lewis Hamilton instead of Sainz next season.
    "Unfortunately after such a hard-fought season until the end we narrowly missed the objective.
    "At the beginning of the year things weren't going well, then they improved and with Sainz we did really well.
    "I was hoping to close these 4 years together with the constructors' title. A disappointment".
    Ferrari ended the season on 652 points, 14 behind McLaren on 666.
    Red Bull was third with 589 and Mercedes fourth on 468. (ANSA).