Toto Wolff compared the Mercedes' challenge of catching rivals Red Bull in 2024 to climbing Mount Everest.
You wish, Toto. Scaling the biggest mountain on the planet seems a whole lot more likely for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell than either of them dethroning Max Verstappen next season.
After all, they're two extremely fit elite athletes at the top of their game. Give Russell and Hamilton some climbing gear and a Sherpa and you wouldn't bet against them making it to the world's tallest peak.
You'd be much braver to put money on Mercedes to beat Red Bull next year. That's not to question the abilities and judgement of those who make the big calls at Brackley - most of the minds which created a dynasty of eight constructors' titles in a row between 2014 and 2021 still roam the halls at Mercedes' F1 headquarters.
But there are so many factors that are working against them - not least the strength of the competition. Red Bull created a car so fast and Verstappen was on such lethal form throughout 2023 that they could have not bothered fielding Sergio Perez at all and still won both titles at a canter.
The performance gap remains massive. And, as Hamilton pointed out after limping to ninth in Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, that's after months of Red Bull not developing their RB19 car at all to focus solely on their next racing machine.
A significant head start places Red Bull in pole position when it comes to getting their next challenger ready for the 2024 season. Right now, it's hard to imagine any scenario other than Christian Horner's team rocking up to pre-season testing in Bahrain with another car in a league of its own.
Catch all the action from Formula One on Sky Sports and get exclusive access to races, qualifying and much more for every Grand Prix. From Max Verstappen to Lewis Hamilton, you won't miss a lap on Sky Sports.
In previous eras, teams chasing a leader have simply been able to throw cash at the problem. Mercedes have never been short of money and last month announced massive profits from the 2022 season despite being outclassed by Red Bull on the track in that season.
But they can't do that any more. The budget cap is great for placing all 10 teams on more equal financial footing but is heavily restrictive for those who need to put in a lot of car development. Mercedes are further limited by the cap on wind tunnel testing time and, because they narrowly beat Ferrari to second place in the championship, have less than the Italians to use in 2024 and only slightly more than Red Bull.
A lack of talent is not the problem - Wolff has plenty of that at his disposal both on the track and off it. But all the factors in play mean that his analogy of climbing Everest doesn't quite do justice to the size of the task facing his team over the next 12 months.