Lewis Hamilton said Ferrari's midrace dithering over strategy cost him a podium at the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday but added that the team has made a clear step forward.
For the second race in a row, Ferrari failed to land either driver on the podium despite showing impressive race pace, with George Russell keeping Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at bay to hold on to third in the final laps.
Hamilton appeared to be denied a golden opportunity to pass when a virtual safety car was enabled as he was right behind Russell in the closing laps, but he felt he should never have been behind his former teammate at that stage in the first place.
"It felt like it was the closest opportunity I had," Hamilton said about the timing of the virtual safety car with three laps left. "I think I'd come up Turn 14 pretty close to him and I was just opening [active aerodynamics] and just getting on the boost.
"I don't know whether or not we would have got by because Mercedes is just so quick. We were losing four-tenths [of a second] here just on the straight line, so that was a challenge, but I do think the time was lost when I was behind Charles. I think which ultimately meant I had a bigger distance to cover to try and catch up to George."
The moment he was referring to unfolded after Lap 40 of the race.
Hamilton had pitted out of sync with the cars in front, which left him on an offset strategy for the rest of the race -- meaning he was often on fresher tires when the others were not, and vice versa.
At a crucial stage midway through the race, Hamilton had found himself behind teammate Leclerc with tires significantly fresher.
"I'm quicker than Charles" Hamilton said on Lap 40 via the radio, angling for team orders. "My tires are better!" Although Ferrari mechanics did come out into the team's pit box as if ready for a stop, Leclerc stayed out for another lap.
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Shortly afterward, Hamilton raised his voice, saying: "We're losing time!" A lap later on Lap 43, Leclerc drove into the pit lane, releasing Hamilton into clear air. Hamilton then sarcastically said: "Great way of losing time, guys. Good job."
The seven-time world champion was justified with the pace he found in clear air, but he continued to go back and forth with race engineer Carlo Santi about what to do next -- either pit and sacrifice track position, but gain a fresh tire advantage for the end of the race, or stay out in the lead of the race on old medium tires. "Happy to go onto a new medium," Santi said to him.
"Didn't look great on Charles. Is it slower?" Hamilton asked in reply.
"We are not sure," replied Santi.
"Well, you guys have got the data, so figure it out," Hamilton said back. After a short pause, he then added: "Please!"
Ferrari opted to keep Hamilton out, and another message then suggested he had been left in the dark slightly about what was going on.
As the chasing Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris approached in his mirror, Hamilton said: "Are you guys using me as a guinea pig, or what's going on? Why have I been kept out so long?"
When speaking to the media after the race, Hamilton downplayed the severity of the back-and-forth with Ferrari's pit wall.
Asked about the colorful language when talking to the written media, a puzzled Hamilton said: "I don't think I said any swear words. My heart rate is 170 [beats per minute] and I'm trying to win."
Despite Ferrari not scoring a podium finish, Hamilton sad he felt positive at how things had unfolded in general.
"The one thing I'm definitely really proud of the team, they brought an upgrade here this weekend," he said. "We are getting closer to them, but half the season we've been down in power, so we really need to pick up the power if we're going to be anywhere near trying to fight for them and close the gap to them."
Hamilton and Ferrari will look to return to the podium in two weeks at their home race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
