Lewis Hamilton has told Nico Rosberg to enjoy winning the drivers' championship because he will come back hard in 2017.
The triple world champion was 33 points behind his Mercedes team-mate following Rosberg's win in the Japanese Grand Prix, leaving Rosberg to only need to finish second in the remaining four races - or even third in one - to win the title.
Hamilton duly put the pressure on with four victories to end the season but Rosberg was second to his team-mate in every race and secured his first drivers' championship in Abu Dhabi.
Having suffered reliability issues in two qualifying sessions early in the season before retiring from the lead in Malaysia, Hamilton says Rosberg did exactly what he needed to but warned the German he will hit back hard next season.
“The odds were stacked against us this year,” Hamilton said. “It was a long, long year, so to then end up in the end with the pace and the speed and the hard work that you put in, to not get the result that you want is definitely tough.
“But a big congratulations to Nico because he did everything he had to do. It’s not his fault he had pretty much perfect reliability, he did everything he could and was meant to do.
“I’m just grateful that I was able to compete towards those last four races and I’ll just say congratulations and tell him to enjoy it because I’m going to fight hard next year to take it back.”
Rosberg described Hamilton as "one of the best ever" drivers in F1 following his title triumph, saying beating the Briton made the success all the sweeter.
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