Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on Sunday promised to make life more difficult for Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull after seeing another title challenge slip through his fingers.

Alonso, a two-time world champion in 2005 and 2006, finally had his faint championship chances extinguished when he made a slow start and finished 11th at the Indian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard is on course for his third runner-up finish in four seasons behind Vettel, whose victory in India sealed his fourth straight world title and the constructors’ championship.

But Alonso said Ferrari, who dominated the past decade but without a title since the 2008 constructors, hoped to come back stronger next year when new engine rules promise to shake up F1.

“I congratulate him,” he said of Vettel. “They’ve been very strong, very dominant, especially in the second half of the season, so they deserve to be champions.

“We need to start thinking for next year and try to make things more difficult for him.”

Alonso only qualified eighth and his race started poorly when he had run-ins involving Red Bull’s Mark Webber and McLaren’s Jenson Button on the first lap.

“Obviously it was not a clean start. I was a bit unlucky because I think Mark was also having contact with someone and the third part of that equation was me,” Alonso said.

“I also had a battle in corner four with Button. The race was uphill from then on as we were last with one stop already done.”

Alonso added that Ferrari had to improve by the next race in Abu Dhabi if they wanted to regain second place in the constructors’ standings, after being overtaken by Mercedes on Sunday.

“I think, overall, the weekend was not good enough and, in Abu Dhabi, we have to improve if we want to pass Mercedes in the constructors’ championship,” he said.