Abu Dhabi: Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene is well aware his team may have achieved their best performance in a while — five wins and five poles — but the fact remains that the championship has eluded them yet again.

With Mercedes sealing the Constructors’ Championship and Lewis Hamilton clinching the Drivers’, Ferrari has been forced to go back to the drawing board. Irrespective of what happens in the final race, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the pain of going dry on the championship won’t be eased as it has now stretched into the 10th year.

Arrivabene accepted that they can take solace in saying that they managed to claim few pole positions and wins but they need to keep grinding to break the jinx.

“These number of pole positions and wins are important but the most important is the championship. We have at the moment been demonstrating a good job overall as a team but the fact that we were not able to win the championship means that it’s not enough. So we have to push forward to do it better in the next year,” said Arrivabene, whose ace driver Sebastian Vettel after leading the championship points at one stage, let the title slip following a series of failure in the Asian leg.

It all started after Vettel and teammate Kimi Raikkonen neutralised each other by colliding at the Singapore Grand Prix. That was followed with engine problems that hampered their chances in Malaysia and Japanese GP. And Mercedes and Hamilton very well know how to steal a yard, if given an inch. And once they had their noses in front they ensured that they shut the doors on Ferrari well before the final Grand Prix.

Arrivabene still has some moments that according to him were special for “different seasons”.

“Hungary in my opinion was best and so was Monaco. I will also have to add Brazil to that list because everyone showed a lot of character despite the championship being sealed,” said Arrivabene, who brushed aside that his Finnish driver Raikkonen was the unluckiest driver on the grid. Raikkonen, who though had eight podium finishes this season, has gone without a win for 94 races, his last win had come in 2013 in Melbourne for Lotus.

“I don’t believe in luck or no luck, even if I’m Italian. I trust on facts and facts mean points. Bad luck or good luck is not influencing this.

“Sometimes, it could be in terms of perception or because maybe other drivers are crashing on his car, the final reality is the points you are scoring. This is what is making a driver good or bad. We are happy about the performance of Kimi, by the way, otherwise we are not confirming him,” said Arrivabene, who agreed that the times have changed and team’s cannot afford to take a break if they have to excel next year.

“We are working all the time, especially when you have to work on the gap that we still have. The guys who are working during the grand prix do take a bit of vacation, not that much, and all the others are still working on the new car.”