Lewis Hamilton admitted Mercedes did not expect to finish one-two at the Belgian Grand Prix after a poor start to the race weekend.

Hamilton finished half a second behind team-mate George Russell despite leading for large portions of the race and was unable to mount enough pressure to pip him over the finish line.

Mercedes had struggled in the practice sessions on Friday, though they improved in rainy conditions on Saturday, with Hamilton finishing fourth in qualifying, getting bumped up to P3 after Max Verstappen's 10-place grid penalty.

In the end, it was the tyre strategy that swayed in Russell's favour on Sunday, as he made just one stop compared to Hamilton’s two.

After a poor start to the season, Mercedes have now won three of the last four races, and Hamilton is proud of how the team have turned things around.

"No, we definitely didn't [expect that]," he said after the race. "First I have to say congratulations to George and to the team.

"We had such a disaster on Friday. The car was really nowhere.

"We made some changes, hard to see what it was going to feel like because of the wet yesterday, but the car was fantastic today, and we really owe it to everyone, both here doing a solid job with pit stops and strategy, and the guys back at the factory.

"I was trying to get closer [at the end] obviously, but George did a great job going long on the tyres. Every stint I had tyres left, but the team brought me in, so unfortunate, but it is one of those days."

Mercedes are fourth in the constructors' championship on 284 points, 56 behind third-place Ferrari.

However, Hamilton believes they still have a long way to go if they want to be considered one of the contenders for it, even with their impressive recent form.

"No. That would be high hopes," he added. "If we can continue these kind of performances, we've had the last few races, which has been fantastic. If we can start our weekends better, hopefully, we can continue.

"I think the McLaren was very strong today, but we were just a bit further ahead early on. We've just got to keep pushing."