George Russell expressed his sympathy for rival Charles Leclerc after the Ferrari driver's efforts in Hungary were thwarted by his team's ill-fated tyre strategy.
Russell fought with Leclerc at the head of the field in the first part of race, with the Monegasque taking the lead by the mid-way point.
All signs points to a potential showdown between Leclerc and arch-rival Max Verstappen who was carving his way through the field after starting tenth.
But it all fell apart for the Scuderia charger when his team opted for a third stint on the hard tyre.
The move destroyed Leclerc's race but opened up a podium opportunity for Mercedes' drivers which they opportunistically seized.
"I do think Charles and Max do still have the upper hand on pure pace, and I’m sure Red Bull were just cruising out front," Russell commented.
"Obviously Max and I were on identical strategies, so we need to see where they were quicker than us. And he probably had a tenth and half or two-tenths on me and then obviously Ferrari going on to the hards, which was a bit of an odd call.
"In these conditions, there was no way the hards were going to work, so I do feel for Charles because he’s been doing a stellar job all season.
"But that’s racing and as a team we capitalised on it."
Russell's main takeaways from his weekend in Hungary were his maiden pole in F1, earned on Saturday, and Mercedes' continued progress.
"Amazing job by the team, pole position and double podium," he said. "We’re making progress and I’m proud of the work everybody has put into it.
"We will come back to the second half of the season with a reset, refocused and will try to fight for some victories," he concluded.
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
