Lewis Hamilton has taken responsibility for the strategic decision that cost him a podium finish at the Singapore Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver chose to stay on track under a virtual safety car and ended up finishing sixth.
The neutralization was activated on lap 39 after Lance Stroll pulled off the track with a suspected clutch problem in his Aston Martin. At that point, Hamilton had already completed 21 laps on the soft tyres, while teammate Charles Leclerc had completed 15 laps on the medium-hard set.
Ferrari misses double pit stop opportunity
The two Ferraris were running in second and third place, with a gap of 4.4 seconds between them. This allowed the team to service them in the pits one after the other. Leclerc stopped, but Hamilton chose to continue on the old tires.
The Briton was also overtaken by Oscar Piastre, who also changed tires during the virtual safety car due to a slow loss of pressure. In the final, Hamilton was nearly 46 seconds behind Leclerc, and according to calculations, his tactics cost him about 41.5 seconds.
„I failed you today with that strategy. The decision was entirely mine“, Hamilton said on the radio.Vassor: We could have finished second and third
Ferrari boss Fred Vassor explained to F1 TV that the two drivers' strategies were split at the start so that Leclerc could attack Max Verstappen, who started from pole position.
“The plan was to bring both cars home, but Lewis decided to stay on the track“, said Vassor. According to him, this was a mistake and Ferrari had the opportunity to finish second and third.
After Verstappen's victory in Singapore, Hamilton's lead over the Dutchman, who occupies fourth place in the overall standings, has shrunk to eight points.
Sources: sportal.bg