Daniel Ricciardo can’t help but rue missed opportunities in 2016.

The Red Bull driver finished an equal career-best third in the Formula One championship after his fifth place at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the UAE on Monday (AEDT).

The 27-year-old has his sights on returning home for some chill time under the Australian sun.

But despite a solid effort to cap off the year, Ricciardo was once again left to mull a team strategic decision.

Ricciardo pitted early, while teammate Max Verstappen went for a one-stop strategy that ultimately lifted him above the Australian on race day.

“We had the supersofts (tyres) at the start and it was still going pretty well,” Ricciardo said.

“For sure it was close but we didn’t pull it off and that really hurt me.

“I think we should have just gone long and one-stopped, but in hindsight it’s always easy to say.

“I just feel we hurt with the two-stop strategy as the supersoft was a good tyre today.”

Ricciardo equalled his 2014 third place in the championship, recording a career-best 256 points for the season – 129 points behind F1 champion Nico Rosberg, who took his maiden title narrowly ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

But the error in Abu Dhabi typifies a year of missed opportunities.

In May, Ricciardo missed a golden opportunity to win the Monaco Grand Prix ahead of Hamilton when a bungled tyre change relegated him to second.

A week earlier in Spain, he led for nearly half the race before a failed pit-stop strategy pushed him back to fourth.

“We pitted a few too many times this year in general,” Ricciardo told the Red Bull Racing Facebook page.

“But we’ll learn from that and hopefully next year we improve on that.”

Ricciardo said he was pleased with his overall season in which he claimed victory in Malaysia among eight podium finishes.

“It’s definitely been more highs than lows this year with a lot of podiums, satisfying races and a good chunk of points,”

“I got amongst it when I could so I think it was a good 2016 for sure.”

His immediate plans: partying, media commitments before “I get home and put my feet up for a little bit in Australia in the sun”.

But he has vowed to be ready for another tilt at the championship crown in 2017.

“I’m not going to get too caught up with thinking about next year,” he said.

“But if we woke up in February for testing and the car’s quick then you’ll see me fighting for it (the title).”