Kimi Raikkonen ended his 2016 campaign with a sixth place finish following a race in which Ferrari's variations on tyre strategy gave Sebastian Vettel an edge over the Finn.
Ferrari brought both drivers in for a switch to soft tyres on lap 8 and 9 but then kept Vettel out longer which enabled Vettel to finish on the faster SuperSoft rubber.
"For sure it was a better choice," said Raikkonen.
"We should have stayed out, for sure, but we tried to put the two cars in different strategies, so it’s a bit easier when you are the car behind and you have the chance to jump somebody on the pit stops.
Thereafter, Raikkonen progressively lost ground on his team mate and the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Ricciardo, completing his afternoon in sixth place finish.
"The car was OK, but I struggled to keep the right front tyre alive, so I was driving just to try and keep it working.
"The last set was much better to start with but then it went away and I just slowed down. It was not ideal but it was one of those things. Next year will be a different story, different cars."
Although a tad frustrated with his race result, Raikkonen understood Ferrari's split strategy calls.
"Like I said it’s easier to make that kind of decisions when you are the second car, but we were close to each other so we would have never been able to stop in the same lap.
"Usually the second car is in a worst position but in days like these it can work out, and today doing something completely different worked out for Seb.
"It’s not ideal but, to be honest, it didn’t really change the world and the season for me. Yes, it could have been a better last race but next year there will be new stuff, a new year and we go for that."
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