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Ferrari's failure to mount a serious challenge to Mercedes in Formula 1 led to the team suffering, according to Kimi Raikkonen.

The Italian team expected to fight for the championship in 2016, having taken three wins and finished second to Mercedes last year.

But this year proved more difficult, with Ferrari failing to win a race and dropping behind Red Bull in the constructors' championship.

Ferrari finished 70 points adrift of second-placed Red Bull and 367 behind Mercedes after 21 races.

"You suffer and we keep working hard and trying the best we can, but unfortunately the results weren't what we wanted," said Raikkonen.

"Thanks to all the guys, we keep trying things and improving and learning.

"That's why I feel that we're in a stronger position even than the results really showed but as a team we've been working very well.

"If you purely take that, hopefully then next year when we bring the new car it's more competitive and I'm sure we're going to have a good fight."

Raikkonen's form improved this year, with the Finn finishing sixth in the drivers' standings, 26 points adrift of team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Last year, that gap was 128 points.

While Raikkonen was pleased with his turnaround, he was still disappointed with the overall results.

"If I just compare it to the last two years, yes it has been better on my side but then you cannot be very happy because it's far from what we want," he said.

"There were good things, and they did good stuff, but obviously the end result is nowhere near what we want.

"It's happy sometimes, but you have to take it as one chunk - the year - and when we finished where we finished we cannot be happy."