Fred Vasseur has revealed that Ferrari called both cars into the pits during the final Virtual Safety Car at the Singapore Grand Prix, but Lewis Hamilton missed the pit-lane entry and remained on track. According to the Ferrari team principal, the decision ultimately cost the Scuderia a likely double podium and around 10 points over the weekend. :chatgpt-content-reference{index=”1″}
Ferrari leaves the Asian triple-header with a double podium from the Singapore Sprint and another podium in the Grand Prix through Charles Leclerc, although the Maranello team once again finished behind the combination of Max Verstappen and the Red Bull RB22.
Ferrari called both cars into the pits under the VSC
The major talking point inside Ferrari came during the second Virtual Safety Car, triggered on lap 39 following Lance Stroll’s retirement. At that moment, Ferrari called both cars into the pits for a double stop, taking advantage of the reduced time loss available under VSC conditions.
Charles Leclerc came in to replace the Medium tyres, which had proved relatively ineffective during the weekend, and returned to the Soft compound. Lewis Hamilton, however, did not enter the pit lane and instead stayed out.
That decision left the seven-time World Champion vulnerable to drivers on fresher and faster tyres. Charles Leclerc, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri all moved ahead as Lewis Hamilton’s older tyres lost performance.
The strategic sequence can also be compared through the Ferrari Pit Stop & Strategy Statistics, which tracks Ferrari’s race calls, stop timing and pit-lane performance.
Fred Vasseur says Lewis Hamilton missed the pit entry
After the Singapore Grand Prix, Fred Vasseur explained to Sky Sport F1 what happened during the decisive phase of the race.
“The decision to stay out was Lewis’. We called both cars into the pits under the VSC. Lewis missed the entry and it was a shame, because he would have been third and would have finished there.”
Fred Vasseur stressed that he was not angry with Lewis Hamilton, but made clear that Ferrari had lost an opportunity to finish second and third.
“I’m not angry. Overall, this was a good weekend. Yesterday we finished second and third in the Sprint, and today second and sixth in the Grand Prix. But today there was an opportunity to finish second and third, and it’s a shame to lose points like this. We need to discuss it with Hamilton to try to avoid situations like this again in the future.”
The episode is particularly significant because Ferrari remains involved in the fight for second place in the Constructors’ Championship, where every point over the closing part of the season could matter.
Ferrari praises both drivers despite the lost points
Fred Vasseur nevertheless highlighted the work done by both Ferrari drivers during the weekend, while again pointing to the points lost through Lewis Hamilton’s missed pit entry.
“Overall, the two drivers did a very good job. When we asked them to swap positions on track, they did it. They had a clear attitude towards each other and were also fair. They did a really good job apart from Hamilton’s pit entry, because in the end we lost around 10 points this weekend.”
The result adds another important chapter to the season-long comparison between the two Ferrari drivers, which can be followed through the Charles Leclerc vs Lewis Hamilton F1 head-to-head statistics.
Fred Vasseur still sees an encouraging Ferrari performance
Despite the disappointment, Fred Vasseur preferred to focus on the underlying performance Ferrari showed across the Singapore weekend.
“But let’s try to take the positive from this weekend. We had a double podium in the wet and we could also have had a double podium on dry tyres. That means the performance was there.”
That assessment leaves Ferrari with encouragement despite the missed opportunity. The Scuderia demonstrated enough pace to challenge for two podium places in both wet and dry conditions, but the final race result once again underlined how costly a single strategic execution error can become in the fight for championship points.
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