Red Bull will continue to be a dominant force in Formula One for the foreseeable future, according to Lewis Hamilton, one of the many drivers who have had to live in the team's tall shadow for the past four seasons.

Red Bull all but clinched the drivers' and constructors' titles again in Italy at the weekend, leaving everyone else looking to next year's fundamental changes, including a switch back to turbo-chargers and a move from 2.4 litre V8s to 1.6 litre V6s, which is intended to bring about a radical change in the order of things.

When Hamilton, who saw his remote championship chances disappear with a ninth place at Monza, was asked whether he thought it was only a matter of time before Red Bull would "fall off their perch" he said: "No, I don't think it's going to happen.

"For the next four years coming, unless Renault do a poor engine, I think they'll be quick. [Designer] Adrian Newey does a really good job. Even though the car's a lot different next year, I believe you can take some of the things from this car into that car. So their car is still going to be pretty impressive next year.

"I just hope that, whatever the case, we all come out next year with a car we can battle each other with. And fight. One race the other takes points off you and the next race you swap it and change it right to the end, like it was with Felipe [Massa] and myself in 2008."

Hamilton has also said he believed that his fortunes might change with a return to the higher downforce tracks, starting with Singapore on 22 September, where he was impressive last year.

"Singapore is cool," he said. "I've had some good races there. I hope when we go there I'll be stronger. I was leading there last time. I'm hoping for a positive race."

The fact is that the next four races are in Singapore, South Korea, Japan and India, and Sebastian Vettel won the lot last year. Red Bull tend to finish strongly and Vettel, who is 53 points ahead of his nearest challenger, Fernando Alonso, merely has to keep picking up points to nail his fourth straight title. Having won half the 12 races so far he does not need to win again.

The good news for Mercedes and Ferrari is that they can join McLaren in moving their emphasis to their 2014 car. They all have to lift their game.

Ferrari are expected to announce their drivers for 2014 within the next few days, with Kimi Raikkonen the favourite to replace Massa. The team's president, Luca Di Montezemolo, is still known to have reservations about returning to the driver he paid off in 2009.