Sebastian Vettel has graciously admitted that Lewis Hamilton deserved to win the 2018 drivers' championship, but is still hoping to make up for the loss by helping Ferrari to claim the constructors' title by knocking Mercedes "off their throne" with two races to go.
Hamilton secured enough points at the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday to win his fifth championship at the expense of Vettel.
Now, the German has turned his attention to helping Ferrari overturn Mercedes' 55-point lead in the constructors' rankings after admitting Hamilton deserved the drivers' honour.
“There can only be one winner and he is the one that deserves is this year,” Vettel said of Hamilton.
“There are still a lot of lessons to learn and make sure that we make the right conclusions.
“I think one thing is clear: we are a very talented and gifted team. We have most support behind us, we have very, very talented clever people on board, we have huge potential, some still needs to be unleashed.
Congratulations to @LewisHamilton on winning the 2018 Drivers World Championship! However, the Constructors’ trophy is still open and we’re determined to take the fight to the end #Nevergiveup
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) 28 October 2018
“But I think everybody’s fighting very hard, we are focusing to make sure we finish those two races this year in style.
“We [will] try and fight Mercedes for the Constructors’ and knock them off their throne maybe to give them a taste for next year."
“I think people back there [at Maranello] certainly deserve and I will try everything to score as many points for them as I can."
Due to the 55-point lead held by the Silver Arrows, Ferrari need to outscore them by 13 points at Interlagos for the Brazilian GP in order to take the battle to the final race in Abu Dhabi.