Mercedes’ Strategic Misstep Leaves Lewis Hamilton Fuming After Slipping From P3 to P6 in Singapore

Mercedes acknowledged making a mistake in their strategy, which left Lewis Hamilton extremely upset. In the Singapore race, Hamilton dropped from third to sixth place due to this decision.

Mercedes has confessed to making an error in their strategic choices for Lewis Hamilton during the F1 Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton, who began the race in third position following a significantly better qualifying session, faced a challenging grand prix in Singapore and ultimately finished in sixth place, trailing behind his Mercedes teammate, George Russell.

The seven-time world champion was angry with Mercedes because their choice to start him on soft tires, which affected his strategy, led to an early pit stop on Lap 17.

Hamilton criticized Mercedes over the team radio, saying they were "killing me with this offset," as he fell behind Russell. Additionally, on his worn hard tires, he was overtaken late in the race by Charles Leclerc, his future Ferrari teammate.

After the race, Mercedes admitted that the strategy they chose for Hamilton was a mistake.

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff described the evening as incredibly tough for the team. "Finishing in P4 and P6 is disappointing, especially considering we began in P3 and P4," he remarked.

"Our past experiences at this track, where positioning is key, influenced our strategy choices for the race. We believed that starting Lewis on the Soft tyres would give him an early edge, but this proved to be a mistake."

"Due to difficulties with the rear surfaces, we ended up regressing. Unlike past races at this track which were more processional, overtaking was feasible this time. Looking back, we should have begun with him on the Medium tires."

"However, it remains clear that our performance was lacking in speed today. We are currently facing challenges with circuits that have high temperatures and require strong traction, such as this one and in Baku, but that doesn't serve as an excuse. It's tough for us to come to terms with, but we have to acknowledge it and work on finding ways to get better."

"Next, our focus shifts to Austin, where we anticipate an upcoming update that we believe will help us make progress."

According to Wolff, both Hamilton and Russell did not speak to the press following the race due to experiencing symptoms akin to heatstroke.

In statements included in Mercedes' post-race press announcement, Hamilton expressed, "It's challenging to put into words the variety of emotions experienced during a tough race like this. This season remains a challenging one for the entire team, but we're all giving it our maximum effort."

Today, our strategy didn't pan out as planned, which illustrates that we don't always get things right. As we move into the weekend, we approach every decision with good intentions, though sometimes things don't go as expected. This can be frustrating, but we remain united as a team.

Recently, we've seen a dip in our performance compared to the leaders over the last few races, and we're diligently investigating the reasons behind this. However, we will continue to do what we excel at: coming together as a team, analyzing the situation, and refocusing our efforts for the upcoming event in Austin.

"We will approach this with enthusiasm, motivation, and resolve. It's a chance to demonstrate our capabilities when everything falls into place, and hopefully, we can make progress with the vehicle."

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