Lewis Hamilton says he can accept when he is wrong after taking blame for the strategy call in the F1 Singapore GP, as Frederic Vasseur questions the media.
Ferrari split the strategy to try and outsmart Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Hamilton opted to start on the medium tire to go long in the first stint, but the tires performed poorly across. The soft tire was the best tire to be on, which they realized early in the F1Singapore GP.
He pitted early with an idea to go long barring any intervention. There was a Virtual Safety Car period when Charles Leclerc stopped. Hamilton did not. The Brit noted that he missed the pit entry and eventually decided to stay out and finish the grand prix.
It backfired as he was caught by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Brit tried to pass, but both went wide, allowing the Italian through. Hamilton was eventually passed by Norris and also teammate Oscar Piastri to finish sixth.
Hamilton Wanted to Start on Medium Tyre
A sure podium was lost, as he took blame on the radio and also post-race. He missed the FIA media duties due to a medical center visit. Hamilton highlighted that he is not afraid to accept when he is wrong, while praising the team.
“Today wasn’t the result we were looking for, and it was on me,” said Hamilton. “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 to 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,” summed up Hamilton.
Vasseur Says Team Not to be Blamed
Meanwhile, team boss Vasseur explained why they decided to split the strategy in the F1 Singapore GP, as they wanted to outline different ways to clear Red Bull and Verstappen. The sprint weekend and lack of information made it difficult to ascertain if the medium would work.
They kept both options at the start of the race, but it became clear that it would be difficult to use the medium compound. Vasseur said it was the same for everyone. But when asked about the Hamilton situation, the Frenchman ended up questioning the media.
After what transpired at McLaren, the media put forward several questions to Vasseur, which led the Frenchman to question the media about whether they asked so many questions of Andrea Stella. From Ferrari’s side, it was clear that they asked both cars to pit under the VSC.
Only Leclerc did, while Hamilton eventually elected not to. They missed out on a double podium, but it is what it is. Vasseur was pleased that the Monégasque got the podium, as he defended the Turn 1 situation due to greasy conditions.
Strategy to Start F1 Singapore GP –
Vasseur: “Yeah, I’m not sure that it’s the big event of the weekend. Well, I think the strategy was…first, tire choice was difficult. We need FP1 with hard as everybody and we were all blind on between medium and soft. It’s why on the grid you had 50/50. It’s not so often.
“And we took the decision to split the car and I think it was a good approach to try to fight with Max. But the medium was poor compared to the soft today, that it was true on our cars, but I think it was true for everybody and we decided to pit quite early to change the direction to get rid of the medium.”
One or Two Stops –
Vasseur: “Honestly, we had the two options open from the beginning to have one stop because that we had no clue about the degradation. This kind of weekend when you have the sprint, it can be mega safe because it’s the best option to do a long stint on the sprint with medium or soft and you have a very good read of the tires.
“But when the sprint is losing there, it’s much more difficult. And I think everybody was a bit in a corner, but we are acted very well during the race. I think the strategy was good that we when we asked them to swap, they swapped very quickly and it went until the VSC went there.”
No Swap, Hamilton Did Not Pit –
Vasseur: “After two laps, he was two laps behind. The advantage was for Charles because he pitted six laps later, I think it was a right call. Charles yes [was to go till the end] and Lewis was a bit mix. We asked him to pit [under the VSC]. Don’t blame the team guys. Let’s clearly listen the radio, he said ‘my apologies, I let you down that it was my call’.
“He decided to not stop behind the VSC, otherwise we would have been P2 and P3. Because that we were not sure to be able to go to the end and that’s why we called the car behind the VSC. I am sorry for you [if there was no radio of it], but there was a clear message and the driver is apologizing that he let the team down.
“Did you ask so many questions to McLaren yesterday? We were P2-P3 on track. [What to] establish? It was very clear. We were P2-P3 on track. We called two cars, ‘guys, you pit behind the VSC’. One of my guys said ‘I missed the pit entry’. Don’t blame the team.”
Leclerc Podium, Turn 1 –
Vasseur: “I don’t have the crystal ball to say what’s happened if they were one meter in front and we stay ahead, but for sure in these conditions that when you have almost the same strategy, you start with the same tires, you do a kind of copy paste.
“To overtake, you need to have one second or one second and a half, I’m not sure that we had overtaking with car in the same strategy, some tires. Yeah, but it was really on the dirty side of the track that nobody went there from the beginning of the weekend. I think it was a bit ambitious to try.”