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Lewis Hamilton has been set the target of challenging for the 2024 World Drivers’ Championship.

Mercedes technical director James Allison says that the Silver Arrows must only concentrate on being competitive in the fight for the Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships next year.

It comes after Hamilton and team-mate George Russell struggled in 2022 and 2023.

Asked by the Performance People’s podcast if Mercedes can challenge Max Verstappen and Red Bull, Allison said: “‘I don’t know,’ is the answer to that.

“I hope that we have put in place enough of a program of work that we have put ourselves in with a shout to be back to [competitiveness].

“[When you say] ‘winning ways’, does that mean winning a race? Does that mean winning a Championship?

“In my head, it’s only ever about Championships. That’s what Formula One is: it’s a Constructors’ and a Drivers’ Championship.

“I hope that we have done enough to give ourselves a shout of being in a Championship fight in both Championships.

“If you look at the long march of F1 history, then the stats are against us. Teams do not bounce back from slipping from their previous peak in the length of time that we have set ourselves.

“But we have nevertheless set a pretty ambitious program. We have quite a lot of strength in depth here and we’ve made quite a lot of progress with next year’s car.

“Whether it proves sufficient or not, only time will tell, but that’s what I’m hoping for us and I know that all my colleagues and team-mates around me will be hoping for the same.”