Hamilton says Ferrari's delay over Leclerc cost him at Dutch Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton said Ferrari's hesitation in asking team-mate Charles Leclerc to pit at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort on Sunday may have cost him second place, after he finished fourth in the race.

Hamilton is third in the drivers' championship, 28 points clear of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in fifth, and finished fourth in Zandvoort as Mercedes took second and third, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli ending the race as runner-up after his Mercedes team-mate George Russell was ordered to let him past; Hamilton is 59 points behind Antonelli.

Hamilton said he had caught Leclerc mid-race on fresher tyres and asked to be allowed through so he could challenge the Mercedes drivers, but after requesting that Leclerc pit the Monegasque initially stayed out for an extra lap before being told to come in. Over the radio at the time Hamilton said: "Great way of wasting time, guys. Great job."

He later closed on Russell in the closing stages but ran out of time to make a pass, his attempts impeded by a late virtual safety car, while McLaren's Lando Norris won the race; Hamilton described the day as "definitely frustrating" and added: "I'm here to win and i think this team can win."

Hamilton outlined the championship implications and internal frustrations, saying: "We couldn't win this race but to win championships you have to pick up every point and the last few races have been difficult with penalties and stuff. "And then today I lost several seconds behind Charles, which I think ultimately could have made the difference in the end. "My goal is to try and lead this team to the championship. We've got some work to do, for sure."

He contrasted Ferrari's approach with Mercedes after Russell was ordered to move aside to protect Antonelli's position, saying: "What's clear is I'm looking at them and seeing Mercedes. They executed. They got the car, they are fighting for the championship and did it straight away. "Here, sitting back, it's something that we need to discuss."

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur acknowledged a communications issue over Hamilton's strategy, saying: "If I look at the race now, I can do it frankly, but my issue is that we didn't tell Lewis that we were expecting him to go to the end, and it was not a matter of pushing. "We didn't want to tell [Hamilton] the strategy at this stage, because we didn't want to disclose it to the competitors, because we wanted to keep him on track until the end [of the race]. "He was able to keep Antonelli behind him, and I think it would have been the right call. Charles was supposed to pit. We extended one lap, and it was a kind of confusion, but I'm not worried about this - everybody will be back in the briefing, they will have a clear picture about the race."

Hamilton also called on Ferrari to improve engine performance, saying: "The one thing I'm definitely really proud of the team for bringing an upgrade here this weekend.," and adding: "We are getting closer to them, but it's just half a season we've been down in power. "We really need to pick up the power if we're going to be anywhere near trying to fight for them, closing the gap to them." He said Ferrari were losing 0.4secs on the straights to Mercedes at Zandvoort.

Vasseur said the team would review the incident in a debrief, stating that "everybody will be back in the briefing, they will have a clear picture about the race."