Lewis Hamilton cast major doubt on his 2024 Formula 1 title chances as he revealed his Red Bull “concern” after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The race was again won by Max Verstappen as Red Bull capped off an extraordinary season with its 21st victory of 2023. In contrast, rivals Mercedes managed to secure second in the championship but ended a campaign winless for the first time in 12 years.

Hamilton’s personal run without a victory has now reached two full years. And he finished this campaign with a whimper – seventh at the Las Vegas Grand Prix and just ninth at the completion of the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi.

No wonder, then, he cut a frustrated and glum figure as he completed his post-race media duties. Asked what his mood was, he simply replied: “Not great – I just finished ninth. Two really bad races.

But his biggest concern seems to be about what the 2024 season holds. Hamilton will be desperate to not only end his lengthy win drought but to also get back into a championship fight for the first time since he missed out on an eighth title in 2021.

He is not sure, however, that it will be possible. He said: “Red Bull won by 17 seconds 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.”

The Brit was referring to the fact that Red Bull’s last upgrade to the RB19 came at the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August. Since then, all their car development efforts have been directed towards their 2024 machine while other teams that still had things to fight for had to wait before they made a similar switch.

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It certainly gives Red Bull an advantage to have had a head-start on next season’s car and Hamilton is worried that it will mean another year of Verstappen and his team dominating the grid. If the 38-year-old is to be in the fight again, he needs his team to make an extraordinary performance jump over the winter.

Asked what he and Mercedes might be able to learn from the 2023 season which has provided such little joy, Hamilton replied: “Not too much really. It’s not been a great year in general. So, there’s not a lot to take from the year. The fact that I survived it… that’s about it.

“[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.”