Hamilton apologizes to Ferrari for strategy call

Lewis Hamilton apologized to his Ferrari team for opting to try and get to the end of the Singapore Grand Prix without an extra pit stop, as he dropped out of podium contention in the closing stages.

Ferrari started second and third with Charles Leclerc and Hamilton respectively, with the seven-time world champion on the medium tire but struggling in the opening stint and pitting for softs early. With Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli pitting under a virtual safety car, Hamilton was called into the pits as well but missed the pit entry and opted to try and go to the end of the race without a further stop, but faded from third to sixth in the closing stages.

“Sorry, boys, I let you down today with that strategy,” Hamilton said on team radio. “My call, and I lost us valuable points. I’ll try and make up for it in the next one.”

After the checkered flag, Hamilton was then seen by the FIA medical team after feeling unwell, and was given permission to not complete his post-race media duties. He later released a further comment via Ferrari to explain his approach.

“Today wasn’t the result we were looking for and it was on me,” Hamilton said. “At a track that’s difficult to overtake, you need to try something different and I chose to start on a new medium tire, to go long and try to make a one-stop work. Unfortunately the medium didn’t perform as well as the soft.

“I had a good second stint and the pace was back, but I couldn’t make the progress I needed. Under the VSC, the team called me in but I missed the entry. After that, I decided to stay out and try to hold track position to the end but in the closing laps, I was struggling massively with tire degradation and lost three places, finishing P6, which doesn’t reflect the pace we had in the car today.

“A painful lesson today, but I take full responsibility for the decisions I made. Not every call will work out, and I can accept getting it wrong but I’m sorry for the team for the points we lost today. They put so much into every weekend, and I wanted to deliver more for them. I’ll continue to put the work in and come back fighting at the next race.”