Lewis Hamilton admitted it is "highly unlikely" he will win a Formula 1 race this season after narrowly missing out on victory at the United States Grand Prix.
For much of 2022, race wins have not even been on the agenda for Mercedes. It became clear after the first few rounds of the season that their car was a long way off Red Bull and Ferrari in terms of performance, and that they would have to scrap for every point they could get.
The Silver Arrows have closed the gap as the season has progressed. They brought their final car upgrade of the year with them to Texas, and it almost paid off as Hamilton took advantage of a slow Red Bull pit stop to take the lead of the race heading into the final stages.
But it wasn't to be for the Brit, who still did not have the speed at his disposal to match Verstappen. The 2021 title rivals went wheel-to-wheel for a few corners, but in the end the performance difference saw the Red Bull man breeze past and go on to win yet another race.
After coming so close, Hamilton knows his best chance of maintaining his streak of at least one win in every year of his F1 career has most likely passed. "We need to be realistic, the Red Bull car has been the fastest by far all year," the seven-time world champion said.
"It was great to have started third, and been in a position to fight for the win, but on true pace, they have been ahead of us all weekend. They were [on Sunday], and they will be at the next three races. Unless something drastic happens to them, then it's highly unlikely that we will have the true pace to be able to compete with them.
"This was probably one of our best chances of winning. But we will give it everything we've got." Just three Grands Prix remain of the season, and Verstappen has already been declared champion after winning 13 of the 19 races so far – including seven of the last eight.
After capping a trophy-laden season with his second drivers' title, Verstappen looks well placed to launch an era of dominance much like Hamilton and Mercedes enjoyed over the previous seven years. Hamilton acknowledged it will be difficult to stop that from happening.
Asked if F1 is set for an era of Verstappen rule, Hamilton said: "It is too early to say, but if we get into next year and they're dominating again, then yes. The Ferraris have been quicker than Red Bull throughout qualifying. Now, all they need to do is pick up their race pace, and they'll be right with them.
"We're working on making a car that can fight, but we've got a much, much bigger step and steeper hill to climb. Hopefully it will not be impossible."
