ZANDVOORT, Netherlands — Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell mentioned they have been shocked by Ferrari’s tempo and Charles Leclerc’s third-place end on the Dutch Grand Prix.

Leclerc began sixth earlier than leapfrogging Sergio Pérez and Russell as McLaren’s Lando Norris beat house favorite Max Verstappen by 22 seconds on Sunday.

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Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz was knocked out in Q2 on Saturday, qualifying eleventh, however completed the race in fifth, one tenth of a second behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Hamilton certified twelfth however was later demoted to fifteenth with a grid penalty for impeding Pérez in the course of the session.

Hamilton, who will be a part of Ferrari subsequent 12 months, mentioned after Sunday’s race: “I used to be positively shocked after I drove by means of and noticed a Ferrari was on P3.

“If I simply certified like I ought to’ve certified, I feel I had the tempo immediately to simply be within the high 5. I do not know if we have been sooner than the Ferrari’s however there have been components of our tempo which have been robust. However the automobile was not nice in comparison with the final race. We had much more tempo on the final race. At present we have been nearer to others.”

Russell was equally as shocked by Ferrari’s tempo, with the 26-year-old admitting he was anticipating to be comfortably forward of them after qualifying and vying for a podium.

“I most likely would’ve completed one, perhaps max two locations increased however we had no tempo, I used to be simply dropping like a stone,” Russell mentioned. “[It was] particularly a shock versus Ferrari — we have been anticipating to be comfortably forward of them. Charles was faster, Carlos catching me, clearly, we acquired one thing improper I feel with the tyres. After the primary couple of laps, I assumed we have been on track for a most likely podium. I knew the overtaking was going to be troublesome.

“I used to be actually shocked at how briskly McLaren have been; Lando simply regarded so snug on the market and it was tremendous spectacular to see and we have had six actually robust races after which out of the blue we have completed nearly a minute behind the win immediately. So you do not lose all of that efficiency in a single day. Yesterday we certified fourth and clearly did not get one thing proper immediately.”