Lewis Hamilton admitted that Ferrari were just too quick for Mercedes after he was unable to catch Charles Leclerc at an emotional Belgian Grand Prix.
Ferrari topped all three practice sessions at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and all three sections of qualifying, but Sunday's outcome was far from a formality.
- Leclerc beats Hamilton for Belgian GP win
- 'This first F1 win is for Hubert'
- Get Sky Sports F1 for 2019
The Italian constructors had not won since their former driver Kimi Raikkonen's victory at the United States Grand Prix last October, but on the day the sport paid tribute to Anthoine Hubert, his long-time friend Leclerc ended his wait for a first Grand Prix win.
The Frenchman came in for his tyre change exactly midway through the 44-lap race, putting Hamilton in front. But Mercedes called their driver in on the very next lap and made a slow stop of 3.6 seconds which may ultimately have cost him the win.
"They were rapid today, and they've been so quick on the straights all weekend," Hamilton told Sky Sports.
"In qualifying, we were losing over a second a lap, and you can't gain that back anywhere else. Today, in the race, they were quicker than we thought they would be.
"Seb (Vettel) dropped off from him on the long runs, so he wasn't really going to be in contention, but Charles was doing great times. If I had been second from the start, I think we'd have had a good race towards the end.
"But it was just the gap from my slightly longer pit stop, when I came out around nine seconds behind him so it was so hard to catch that up. To finish only nine-tenths behind him, I'm pretty happy with that.
"It's a race I feel pretty good about during a fairly wobbly weekend, but we've ended on a positive in terms of the result."
When asked if Hamilton needed a couple more laps to clinch victory, Mercedes team principal and CEO Toto Wolff said: "Yes, maybe, but still overtaking on the straights against the Ferraris is very difficult. Maybe two would've done it.
"Maybe we stayed up one or two laps too late with Lewis. The optimum would've been a lap or two earlier, but then you're always very clever at the end of the race.
"For us, it wasn't a great track, and we lacked the speed on the straight lines. If this was damage limitation, we have to be very happy with it."
Hamilton extended his championship lead because his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas was third, finishing ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
Leclerc dedicated his win to Hubert, who lost his life in an F2 accident at Spa on Saturday.
Moments after winning, he pointed to the sky and then to Hubert's name written on the side of his car.
Hamilton added: "It was obviously not the best of weekends for the sport, and yesterday was a very tough day. Just coming here today was hard but we all had to go out there and try to clear our thoughts and just try to race with Anthoine in spirit.
"But coming here today, it was very hard to believe that we've lost a great racing driver, and yet the world just continues.
"The race was there so I had to get in the car and do my job, but I just raced with him and his family in my thoughts and prayers today and I think as a team we did a good job, and Charles did a fantastic job so congratulations to him."