Raikkonen: Abu Dhabi fuel saving "nothing to do with racing"

The Ferrari driver finished fourth, fending off Max Verstappen for the whole race and gaining a position when Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull retired ahead of him.

However, Raikkonen said he didn't enjoy the race, as the Yas Marina track requires significant fuel saving.

"To be honest, the whole race was pretty much fuel-saving, trying to hold the guy behind and save enough fuel to be legal at the end," Raikkonen told TV crews after the race.

"Nothing to do with racing, really. Unfortunately that's the rules. Some circuits it's like this, and it's not really fun.

"We had a decent car, but when it's like this there's nothing to do with the car.

"Rules are rules, it just doesn't feel like racing really, we're just trying to use the amount of fuel we are allowed, and cruise every lap."

Raikkonen's teammate Sebastian Vettel said he had to save fuel at the beginning of the second stint, which meant he lost touch with the Mercedes drivers ahead, eventually finishing 19 seconds behind race winner Valtteri Bottas.

While it was a disappointing way for Ferrari's season to end, Vettel said the team could be pleased with the way it took the fight to Mercedes this year.

"You saw today we weren't quick enough," said Vettel, who finished 25 seconds ahead of Raikkonen.

"I don't think it's a shame to come second [in the championship] in the way that we did, but it's not what we want.

"Overall we had a very good run – I don't think there was an awful lot more to grab.

"As a Ferrari driver you have no time to relax. There is quite a bit of work to do before Christmas to close the chapter on this year.

"We'll pick up all the lessons that there are – we are trying to push through and get into better shape for next year."