The Singapore Grand Prix weekend is beginning, but Ferrari is still facing questions over what happened at Sepang. The decision to start both drivers on slick tyres generated widespread debate and renewed criticism of the Maranello pit wall, but Lewis Hamilton has now strongly defended the team while also echoing Fred Vasseur’s concerns about what Ferrari sees as excessive negativity surrounding the Scuderia.
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion addressed both the comparison with McLaren and the internal process that produced Ferrari’s unsuccessful tyre decision. Lewis Hamilton stressed that responsibility should not fall solely on the strategists because the final call emerged from a wider discussion involving several members of the team.
Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari receives more criticism than its rivals
Lewis Hamilton highlighted two important aspects of the controversy. The first concerned McLaren, which made the same initial mistake before the start, although it partially corrected the decision by calling Oscar Piastri in at the end of the formation lap to switch to Intermediate tyres.
Despite that, Lewis Hamilton argued that the reaction towards McLaren was very different. “One interesting thing is that, for some reason, as a team we receive much more criticism than others. McLaren made the same decision and nobody said anything. Or they found some excuse. McLaren made the same mistake and made the same choice. In the end, it was a mistake.”
The comments continue the discussion that followed Ferrari’s difficult wet-to-dry call at Sepang, with Lewis Hamilton having already confirmed further talks inside Ferrari after the failed tyre strategy.
Lewis Hamilton explains why Ferrari strategists are not solely responsible
The second point concerned who actually made the decision. In Malaysia, Lewis Hamilton had explained that Ferrari chose to use slick tyres despite his observations that the circuit was drying more slowly than expected. In Singapore, however, the British driver was careful to distribute responsibility across the group rather than blaming one department.
“It is not the strategists’ fault. Unfortunately, my strategy team ends up taking most of the criticism, but in reality the decision did not come from the strategist. It is the result of collective work: Fred Vasseur, Matteo Togninalli, me, my engineer… we decide together. We discuss it and bring together our contributions, our ideas and the information available.”
Lewis Hamilton then reconstructed the moments leading up to the decision to remain on slick tyres. “As I said, when I entered the pit lane I thought: ‘It’s wet’. I go to the pit wall and say: ‘It’s wet’. I go back to the garage and say: ‘Guys, we should fit the intermediates’. At that point, everyone offers a different point of view.”
The Ferrari driver explained that receiving several different opinions eventually persuaded him to follow the collective decision. “And when you have three people giving you different opinions, in the end you let yourself be convinced and say: ‘OK, I’ll do what you say’. That is how you work as a team, you hope that three heads are better than one, but in some cases the opposite happens.”
Lewis Hamilton acknowledged that his original instinct had ultimately been correct. “You were right, your instinct had seen it correctly, and then you think: ‘Damn, I should have followed my instinct’. However, generally everyone is trying to do their best. It was not enough, we discussed it at length and we will try to understand how to make better decisions more consistently in the future.”
Lewis Hamilton holds no grievance against the FIA
Lewis Hamilton also took a conciliatory approach when discussing the FIA and the software problem that delayed the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Despite the disruption, he did not criticise the governing body.
“I was excited for a wet race when it started raining, and I thought, yes, this is going to be fun. And we did the formation laps on the grid, there was clearly a lot of water being thrown up, and then with all the delays and everything else, in the end we did not get to have the battle I wanted with Max Verstappen, which I was excited about, and with Kimi Antonelli.”
Lewis Hamilton added: “I really do not have any resentment towards the FIA. I think ultimately they do their best to keep us all safe.”
Despite the difficult start to the race, Lewis Hamilton was at least able to enjoy his recovery through the field to the podium. “It was a lot of fun. Honestly, it reminded me of my days when I was young, as a kid, when my first kart was fifth-hand, all battered, and I would basically start at the back of the grid and have to work my way through the field. It took me back a little bit in that sense.”
Lewis Hamilton optimistic about Ferrari at Singapore
With the previous Grand Prix now behind him, Lewis Hamilton turned his attention towards Singapore, a circuit where he has frequently produced strong performances. His 2018 pole position remains regarded as one of the standout qualifying laps of the modern Formula 1 era.
“Every time I come here I try to find that same feeling, but the tyres are always different every time we return,” Lewis Hamilton explained. “There is the overheating problem… but the preparation also changes: certain practices we used at Mercedes, or that other teams used at the time, such as solutions for cooling the rear tyres, get banned. And so new ways of managing the tyres emerge.”
The characteristics of Marina Bay leave Lewis Hamilton reasonably optimistic about Ferrari’s prospects, although he acknowledged that there are still uncertainties. The reasons behind that optimism have already been explored in more detail in the analysis of why Singapore could offer Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari a stronger opportunity.
“I think our car generally works well on street circuits, especially when there are no particularly long straights. If we look at the last few races, we were fast in the corners but not as fast on the straights.”
Lewis Hamilton believes Marina Bay’s high-downforce nature could help reduce the impact of Ferrari’s straight-line disadvantage. “This is a high-downforce circuit, so I hope the advantage the others had on the long straights is reduced a little, allowing us to level things out thanks to the pace we can maintain through the corners.”
The Marina Bay layout places particular emphasis on traction and cornering performance, making Ferrari’s behaviour through the technical sections especially important this weekend.
Lewis Hamilton concluded that establishing a predictable platform will be essential around Singapore’s uneven street surface. “For us, therefore, the important thing is to have a solid and stable base, especially through the bumpy sections, because the surface here is uneven.”
With Ferrari looking to put the Sepang strategy controversy behind it, Singapore offers an immediate opportunity to apply the lessons learned while exploiting a circuit that may better suit the SF-26’s cornering strengths. More developments involving the seven-time world champion can be followed through the Lewis Hamilton Ferrari news archive.
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