Hamilton apologises to Ferrari after ignoring pit call costs podium in Singapore
Hamilton takes responsibility for costly VSC call
Lewis Hamilton apologised to his Ferrari team for overriding their strategy call during the Singapore Grand Prix, a decision that dropped the seven-time world champion from third to sixth in the closing stages.
Hamilton was running third behind team-mate Charles Leclerc on lap 39 of 62 when a Virtual Safety Car appeared. Ferrari instructed Hamilton to follow Leclerc into the pits, but he ignored the call and stayed out. The decision left him vulnerable on ageing tyres and he was overtaken by Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Team radio apology and post-race statement
After taking the chequered flag Hamilton said on team radio: "Sorry boys. I let you down today with that strategy. My call, and I lost us valuable points. I'll try and make up for it in the next one."
Hamilton was excused from media duties after the race as he felt unwell in the sweltering conditions, but released a statement via the team:
"Today wasn't the result we were looking for and it was on me. At a track that's difficult to overtake, you need to try something different and I chose to start on a new medium tyre, 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 tyre 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."
Vasseur: mistake cost P2-P3
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur confirmed Hamilton had ignored the pit wall's instructions.
"We called him, we called them both to pit," Vasseur told Sky Sports F1. "It would have been P2-P3 because we were P2-P3 on track, and he missed the pit entry, and honestly it's a bit of a shame because he's losing a podium also. It was crystal clear on the radio. But now let's be focused on Austin."
To F1 TV Vasseur said: "The call was to pit [two drivers at the VSC] and Lewis decided to stay on track. I think it was a mistake overall – we would've gone for P2 and P3 today. He apologised on the in-lap for the strategy. We asked him to call and he didn't."
Race context and championship impact
Hamilton had led Leclerc in a 2-3 finish in the Singapore Sprint before the pair swapped places in qualifying. Leclerc started on soft tyres while Hamilton began on mediums, which proved the slower option.
Max Verstappen cruised to victory from pole position. The result leaves Hamilton 111 points behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli, while his advantage over Verstappen is reduced to eight points.
Formula 1 next heads to the United States Grand Prix in Austin on 23-25 October.