Lewis Hamilton promised fans an "exhilarating" Mercedes fightback next season after enduring another frustrating Formula 1 campaign.
For the second year in a row, Hamilton went without a single F1 race victory. In fact, Carlos Sainz was the only man who stopped Red Bull from winning a race in 2023 when he took victory at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Other than that, it was a clean sweep for the Milton Keynes-based team. And Max Verstappen led the charge with a record-breaking romp to the title which saw the Dutchman score more points than Hamilton and team-mate George Russell put together.
The task facing Mercedes is of a mammoth scale. Making enough development progress over the winter to be able to go toe-to-toe with Red Bull in 2024 looks unlikely.
But Hamilton made it clear to his fans that he is up for the challenge. In a social media post the day after he finished just ninth in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the 38-year-old shared his belief that Mercedes will soon challenge again.
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He wrote: "Another one done. Good to take P2 in the constructors, but ultimately not the year we wanted. Still, big shout to the team for always pushing. Big thank you to the fans as well. The support this season has made such a difference, and I wouldn't have made it to this day without it.
"As for the future, myself and the team know we'll be back on top, and we know there's a lot of work to be done to make that happen. I promise you, getting there will be exhilarating, and seasons like this will make it all the more satisfying when we do. 'Til next year."
Clearly, Hamilton was in a more positive frame of mind when he typed that message than he was just 24 hours earlier. After an underwhelming weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit, the seven-time world champion pointed at the fact Red Bull have a head-start on their 2024 car development as a sign another tough 12 months may lie ahead.
"Red Bull won by 17 seconds [in Abu Dhabi] and have not touched the car since August, so you can pretty much guess where they're going to be next year... I was just slow throughout the race," he glumly told reporters.
"[Red Bull] haven't even developed their car since August - it's definitely a concern. But we've learned a lot about the car and it's just down to the team now and they know what they need to do. Whether or not we'll get there, we'll see."
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