Hamilton: We should come back guns blazing next year

The victory, the first of the season for the former serial winners, was the first of the years and a massive improvement in the W13 chassis that has mystified the smartest and most experienced heads in F1.

Facts are, from a distant third in the pecking order for most of the season, in recent races the Mercs have been closer to the sweet spot as the season closing, now they are almost on par with pacesetters Red Bull and ahead of constantly fumbling Ferrari, who early in the season easily topped the pecking order of power.

Hamilton believes this final flurry of good form augurs well for next year, speaking during a promotional gig in Dubai for IWC watches, the seven-time F1 World Champion said: "When we got to Brazil, we weren't expecting to be the quickest, you know, we weren't expected to be fighting for the win.

"No one's worked so hard over this season, and we've had so many trials and tribulations through the year for us to finally be there.

"It's something we should all work towards, and, and dreamed of getting ourselves back to, but we never know if it's really going to work, you know, the work the hardware, it's going to really pay off. And so I think just everyone should be excited.

"I've seen pictures of everyone back in the factory celebrating," continued Hamilton. "I think everyone truly deserves a pat on the back because it's been those people who work so hard. And I'm really grateful for all the work that was done.

"It's been a pretty terrible season, definitely not been good in terms of performance but it's been a really, a really great season, in terms of all the team pushed together, learned so many new things, we've harnessed new tools, we've found better new ways of working together. So I think it's been overall actually really impactful.

Hamilton has yet to win this year, Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - his 310th in F1 - is his last chance to continue his remarkable streak of winning a race in every season since his debut for McLaren 15 years ago.

He has won five times in Abu Dhabi, more than any other driver, so knows his way around Yas Marina Circuit but even if that victory eludes him, Mercedes are signing off their trying season with confidence and morale sky high after the Sao Paulo 0ne-two.

Hamilton explained: "You know, having that result really informs us that we're on the right track. We know where we need to put the car for next year. And we should come back guns blazing next year but it's gonna definitely gonna still be tough."

Meanwhile and long before then, apart from the record of a win-a-season being kept alive, victory for Lewis on Sunday may also go a long way to avenge the awful night he had in Abu Dhabi last year.

Let's see what Karma has in store for the former Champ and his successor this weekend.