Lando Norris insisted his McLaren and Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes have "the same pace" after outperforming his compatriot at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Former world champion Hamilton started the race on pole but dropped back after a nightmare start to eventually finish fourth.
Norris took second behind runaway championship leader Max Verstappen, with Hamilton questioning the "crazy amount" of speed which saw him fall behind Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri midway through the race.
Driver of the day Norris was having none of that, though. Speaking after his second successive podium finish, the 23-year-old outlined his thoughts after previously playing down suggestions he could repeat his runner-up finish from Silverstone.
"Mercedes were on pole here last year, and their car has been pretty good," Norris said. "I know Lewis complains a lot of how amazing our car is and how bad theirs is, but they don't have a bad car. And they haven't all season…
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"Today, we struggled more than we would have liked. But we know this is an area for improvement. So yeah, I think it's a positive surprise, again, to be where we are.
"But we have the same pace as Mercedes, it's just we've done a better job. So I have to thank the whole team for that."
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It was a second straight podium for Norris (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)Hamilton's slow start saw him drop to fourth, behind Verstappen and the two McLarens. He pointed fingers at the Red Bull driver for running him wide but also claimed that during and after the race he didn't have the pace to compete.
"How've they got nine seconds all of a sudden? That's a crazy amount!" Hamilton was heard saying on team radio when Piastri opened up a gap.
"After that, just didn't have the pace to keep up with the guys," he added. "The balance in the car was pretty awful on that first stint, a lot of understeer and oversteer through corner balance and I just couldn't keep up with them.
"So then, bit by bit, as we got through the next couple of stints, the car started to become more drivable, and then the last stint obviously was much better. If we had had the pace we had at the end, we would have been a little bit better I think through the day."
A late rally was enough for Hamilton to pass Piastri late on. By then, however, Verstappen's Red Bull colleague Sergio Perez had climbed up to third and Hamilton was still denied a podium.
The result leaves Hamilton six points behind third-placed Fernando Alonso in the overall standings. Verstappen, however, now has a lead of more than 100 points on closest rival Perez.
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