Sebastian Vettel reckons Red Bull could have had a better shot at the World title if the season was a few races longer as his RB5 is just "getting quicker."
Vettel claimed victory in Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, literally racing into the sunset on the track and metaphorically in the Championship, securing the runner-up position behind Jenson Button.
But had the season been a race or three longer, Vettel reckons Red Bull could have given Brawn GP more of a run given that his RB5 keeps getting better.
"The car was fantastic, it worked brilliantly on both tyres. it was a pleasure to sit in the car," the German driver said. "To sum up the season: up and down. The car is getting quicker - it's a shame the season is ending."
As for his race, Vettel - who started second on the grid - was able to take the lead off Lewis Hamilton having run longer in the opening stint. Sadly the battle between the two came to an early conclusion as the McLaren driver retired two laps later.
"I stayed close enough early on (to Hamilton), and knowing I was a little bit heavier, that was the secret, to stay with him," said Vettel.
"I did enough to get past him. Unfortunately he had to retire, but it was still a fantastic race."
The German is now looking ahead to next season, confident that Red Bull can learn from their mistakes and come back even stronger.
"It would be very good to continue like that," he said. "Now we face a long winter, especially for all us drivers, there's long break with no testing. Back in England, back in the factory, the guys are pushing very hard. The cars do not change much until next year but you cannot refuel, so it is a bit unknown.
"This season was very special, I remember a couple of years back those two were driving and I was watching. Hopefully the next one will be as exciting as this one. I'm definitely looking forward.
"We had a very, very good season, some positive but some things we did wrong. It is not a shame, we just need to know and understand why that happened and come back next year."
His team-mate Mark Webber finished in second place, handing Red Bull their fourth 1-2 result of the season. It was a great showing from the Australian, who came under enormous pressure from Button in the final five laps.
"At the end there, I had not much of a feeling on the option - I was quite slow on that tyre," explained Webber.
"I thought it was going to be quite a fight at the end. I had to make sure I was accurate on braking points. We had a good, clean fight."
Team boss Christian Horner was full of praise for his two drivers, despite those heart-stopping final laps.
"The last couple of laps, our hearts were in our mouths on the pit wall. Mark did a brilliant job though and hung in there," he said.
As for Red Bull's season, Horner admits it would have been a bit better if the team had started with the double-decker diffuser controversially used by their Brawn GP rivals.
"We've had a brilliant year, but the bottom line is we lost too much ground at the beginning of the year with the double diffuser."
