McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton insists he will regroup ready to challenge for the title next season after ending a turbulent campaign with a retirement at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Hamilton suffered gearbox problems at Interlagos and was forced to stop on lap 47, his first mechanical retirement since the Hungarian Grand Prix last year.
This season, the 26-year-old has suffered a host of incidents on and off the track and ends the season in fifth place in the drivers' standings, 165 points behind this year's champion Sebastian Vettel.
This year is also the first season since he entered the sport that he has been beaten by a team-mate over a season - Jenson Button ending up second in the standings.
"It has been an interesting year," said Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, after his retirement.
"Today, I gave my all. I enjoyed the race. It is a little bit unfortunate for the team that we were unable to get the extra points.
"I was challenging [Felipe] Massa and I was hoping I would get him but the gearbox problem came early. I was struggling with the gears.
"It has been a long year. I am looking forward to a bit of down time with my family and friends and attacking next year.
"There's lots I can improve on but I feel it's all positive even though we didn't have a great result today."