Lewis Hamilton finished third in the F1 drivers’ championship but Mercedes endured their first winless season for 12 years as Max Verstappen and Red Bull ran riot
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.
Apart from that, the Milton Keynes-based team won handily. And Max Verstappen spearheaded the attack, setting a record while winning the championship with a point total greater than that of teammate George Russell and Hamilton combined.
Mercedes has a massive task ahead of her. It seems unlikely that they will make enough development progress over the winter to be able to compete with Red Bull in 2024.
However, Hamilton let his supporters know that he is willing to take on the challenge. The day after finishing just ninth in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the 38-year-old expressed on social media his optimism that Mercedes will soon mount another challenge.
“One more done,” he wrote. Although it’s good to take P2 in the constructors, this wasn’t the year we had hoped for. Still, kudos to the team for their constant perseverance. Also, a big thank you to the fans. I couldn’t have survived to this day without the support I’ve received this season.
Regarding the future, I’m confident that my team and I will succeed again, even though we know it will take a lot of work to get there. I can assure you that the journey there will be thrilling, and times like these will make it even more rewarding once we arrive. Until the following year.”
It’s obvious that Hamilton was feeling happier when he wrote that message than he had been the day before. Following a lackluster weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit, the seven-time world champion hinted that Red Bull has an early advantage in developing their 2024 car, suggesting that another challenging year may be ahead.
Red Bull won [in Abu Dhabi] by a margin of 17 seconds, and since they haven’t touched the vehicle since August, you can pretty much predict where they’ll finish next year. I simply moved slowly the entire race,” he said somberly to reporters.
“It’s definitely concerning that Red Bull hasn’t even developed their car since August. However, the team now knows what needs to be done and we have gained a great deal of knowledge about the vehicle. We’ll see if we make it there or not.
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