Carlos Sainz suggested Red Bull was on “another planet” throughout the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard finished third on Sunday behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Sainz started on pole, inheriting the spot when Verstappen fell to 14th on the starting grid due to power unit penalties.
From the race start, the Ferrari driver headed the field before his first stop at the end of Lap 11.
He would lead just two further laps, shortly after Verstappen pitted on Lap 15, before losing out to Perez on Lap 21.
In the closing stages, Sainz found himself being hunted by George Russell, though the Mercedes driver ran out of laps to finish fourth by 2.2s, more than 29 seconds away from the race winner.
“I think we left nothing on the table,” Sainz said after the race.
“We were just not strong enough compared to them [Red Bull]. They were on another planet this weekend.
“They were just strong in quali, strong in the race, better in tyre management, stronger in the straights, stronger in the corners – in some of them – and we were just not quick enough, unfortunately.”
Finishing third, after being comprehensively bested by the Red Bull duo, came as a blow to Sainz who felt he was in a solid position early in the race.
“After the strong start that I got, the strong restart of the Safety Car, the gap that I had after the first couple of laps, I felt like that I was on for a good opportunity.
“But very quickly I realised I went into overheating with the tyres, I was sliding around a lot, and it was not going to happen.”
Before the Formula 1 summer break, Ferrari had arguably enjoyed the strongest car, even if Red Bull has typically had better straight-line speed.
“We are surprised because the gap was certainly much bigger, or the biggest we’ve seen all season across the two teams,” Sainz observed.
“It’s certainly something we didn’t expect, which means we need to go back and analyse why at this sort of track we are so weak.
“We still need to analyse, take some conclusions and try to come up with a better low downforce target for Monza in case we are not so strong there, also.”
The Italian Grand Prix is less than two weeks away, with Formula 1 heading to Zandvoort before then.
Opening practice for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix begins at 20:30 AEST on Friday.
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