Ferrari explains Hamilton’s failed Singapore Grand Prix gamble

Ferrari has explained Lewis Hamilton’s failed strategic gamble at the Singapore Grand Prix. After the Marina Bay race, team principal Fred Vasseur faced questions about the decision that saw the Briton fall from third to sixth.

Hamilton stayed out under the virtual safety car and completed 44 laps on soft tyres. Over the final 22, after the neutralisation, he lost an average of 2.5 seconds per lap to Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton did not attend the post-race media session: feeling unwell, he went to the medical centre. Vasseur therefore fielded questions about the decision. The Frenchman initially responded to one question by saying the issue was not necessarily “the big event of the weekend”.

Hamilton’s post-race radio message had made clear that the call to stay out was his. Vasseur insisted the instructions had been “very clear”: “We were second and third on track. We called both cars: ‘Guys, pit under the virtual safety car.’ One of my drivers said he preferred to stay out. Or rather, he said: ‘I missed the pit entry.’”

Ferrari’s team principal called Hamilton’s decision a “clear mistake”, while conceding: “When you see the outcome, it was not a good call.” He also noted that drivers sometimes have to be listened to because they can feel how the tyres are behaving from the car, and that their judgement must be respected.

Hamilton said he had wanted to try a different approach: start on new medium tyres, run long and attempt a one-stop strategy. But, in his account, the mediums did not perform as well as the softs. After a stronger second stint, he could not make the progress he needed. The team called him in under the virtual safety car, but he missed the entry; he then chose to stay out and defend track position. Tyre degradation in the closing laps ultimately cost him three places, leaving him sixth.

In a statement provided by Ferrari, Hamilton accepted responsibility: “Today wasn’t the result we were looking for and it was on me.” He called it a “painful lesson”, apologised to the team for the points lost and said he would keep working before returning at the next race.