Lewis Hamilton is already relishing the start of next season, despite ending his reign as world champion on a low note.

McLaren star Hamilton was red-hot favourite to become the winner of Formula One's first day-night race after dominating practice and qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Starting from the 17th pole of his career at the magnificent Yas Marina circuit, Hamilton led for the first 16 laps until his first pit stop. But he never managed to shake off the Red Bull duo of race winner Sebastian Vettel and runner-up Mark Webber.

Four laps later, Hamilton was forced to retire with a right-rear brake issue - and although naturally disappointed at first, he knows how far he has come following a miserable first few months of the year.

"I had a good start but I realised early on something wasn't right with the brakes," he said.

"After three or four laps, it became clear there was a problem with my right-rear brake pad - so I couldn't open up a gap to Sebastian and Mark.

"When the problem got worse, the team radioed me and told me to stop at the end of the lap.

"Of course, it's a shame we couldn't show the performance we'd had throughout the weekend. But sometimes, that's racing.

"However, I think we can be really proud of our efforts. Who'd have thought we'd finish third in the constructors' championship at the start of this season?

"It's been an incredible year, and now I can't wait for next season to start so I can fight for the world championship again."

Underlining Hamilton's comments, team boss Martin Whitmarsh feels McLaren will again be title contenders next season - following what can only be described as a transitional period this year.

"Lewis drove absolutely superbly all weekend - in fact he drove absolutely superbly all year," Whitmarsh said on the 24-year-old.

"Today's race was obviously a disappointing end to a challenging season. But overall, there are plenty of reasons to be cheerful about it.

"The team has worked tremendously hard all year to improve the car, which started as one of the slower but ended it with two fine wins and a string of impressive points-scoring finishes.

"Perhaps more important still is work on next year's car is already going very encouragingly - it's already quicker than the current car.

"So there's every reason for us to be confident we'll be able to continue to develop and improve it significantly between now and the beginning of the 2010 season.

"The fact we beat Ferrari to third place (in the constructors' championship) is a matter of pride to us.

"I want to pay tribute to all at the team for the superhuman efforts they made in achieving that milestone.

"Ferrari are always formidable opponents for us, and next year we hope to beat them again - this time for first place rather than third."