Hamilton still motivated and is looking forward to "the changes that are necessary for next year"

Despite a woeful weekend for Ferrari at the Qatar Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton is still motivated and claimed that he is already looking forward to "the changes that are necessary after that for next year."

Having struggled for outright pace all through the race weekend in Qatar, Ferrari continued to lack performance during the 57-lap encounter.

Charles Leclerc dropped places off the line, falling behind the Kick Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg. Although he gained places after the clash between Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly, he never really looked able to fight for anything better than an eighth place.

His team-mate Lewis Hamilton elected to start on the softs, which helped him gain off the line. However, when the safety car was deployed, and the majority of the field opted to complete the first of two mandatory pit stops, the Briton lost position as he needed to wait for his team to complete Leclerc’s tyre service.

When Isack Hadjar dropped out late on with a puncture, Hamilton climbed up to 12th, but it was not enough to score any points in the penultimate round of the season.

Reflecting on his race, Hamilton said: "We made a positive start and gained a few positions in the first stint, but the Safety Car didn’t play to our advantage and I lost two positions after the double stack.

"From that point I found myself in a DRS train, which made progress difficult on a circuit where overtaking is limited. The focus in now on Abu Dhabi, and hopefully we can end the season on a stronger note."

Pushed on to reveal why the safety car interruption made his race even more difficult, the Briton added: “I couldn’t believe when the Safety Car came out on Lap 7, because that was the Safety Car lap where, if one comes out, everyone stops.

"And then I had to double-stack obviously and I lost places, so that was definitely frustrating. And then after that everyone’s stopping on the same lap – not a great race to be racing in.”

With just one race remaining in his maiden campaign as a Ferrari driver, Hamilton said of his approach heading into the season finale: “It’s about getting through Abu Dhabi and then making all the changes that are necessary after that for next year.”