Abu Dhabi F1 GP: Lewis Hamilton regrets not taking strategy risk

Rosberg converted his sixth consecutive pole position into a third-straight win to see out the 2015 F1 season, while Hamilton could only get close ahead of the final pitstops.

Mercedes then tried to extend Hamilton's middle stint to give him fresher tyres to attack Rosberg at the end, but the world champion was unable to make up the deficit in the closing laps and came home second again.

Asked about his strategy after the race, Hamilton said: "I did what I was told pretty much.

"I tried as hard as I could in the first stint, keeping a decent gap to Nico, looking after the tyres.

"The second stint I was quicker, getting close [one second behind], and I could have made the tyres last longer.

"But it was down to the team which tyre we went to for the final stint.

"I'm not sure if I could have taken my tyres to the end - some part of me wishes I had just given it a go."

Hamilton had a lengthy exchange with the Mercedes pitwall regarding his strategy before his final stop, and in the end his request to try nursing the tyres to the finish was overruled by Mercedes because he would have been unable to keep Rosberg at bay.

"In hindsight, once Nico pitted I probably would have backed off a little bit and I'd have made those tyres go a lot longer," he said.

"The tyres were fine so I honestly felt I could have taken them to the end, but that didn't work.

"Going too long [before the final stop] was probably the wrong thing to do, but we gave it a try and I did the best job I could with it."

Hamilton also said he would ask Mercedes why it kept changing his engine mode during the race.

"I'm not really sure why it was like that because I had lots of life left [in the engine]," he said.

"I'll ask when I get back to the debrief."