After failing to get to grips with his W15 during the Free Practice sessions in Singapore, Lewis Hamilton finally made a breakthrough and qualified in P3 for Sunday [his best finish in free practice was P7]. However, his race was compromised due to a poor strategy call from Mercedes and he didn’t shy away from blaming the team for it.
After the race, the seven-time champion was furious at the fact that the team made him start the Grand Prix on the Soft tires when he clearly wanted to go with the Mediums. However, in a recent update on his Instagram, Hamilton revealed that he did eventually end up agreeing with the team.
He revealed that the plan was to gain an advantage at the start of the race on softer rubber. However, it didn’t work out the way they had planned. He wrote in an Instagram story, “We knew starting on soft tires was a bold and risky move but one that could give us an advantage at the start and I ultimately agreed with that recommendation.” He added,
“Make no mistake though, things are cool with the team. As with all successful partnerships, you have to have some lows to have the highs… We will support each other to the very end. It’s all love. See you in Austin.”
Lewis Hamilton admits to agreeing with Mercedes on the Soft tire strategy in Singapore as he reports that “things are cool with the team” now.#Formula1 #LewisHamilton #Mercedes #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/2jjN8nXqYT
— Formula World (@F1_Grand_Prix) September 28, 2024
As a result of the offset strategy, Hamilton ended up finishing the race in P6, almost 90 seconds behind race winner Lando Norris. This was the reason for his frustrations during the post-race interviews.
George Russell knew Hamilton would be angry with the strategy
When asked about the strategy, Hamilton explained that he was adamant about starting on Medium tires and even fought as hard as he could with the team to change the plans. However, he stated that the team just didn’t listen to him at all.
#F1 | James Allison says Lewis Hamilton’s strategy at the #SingaporeGP was “a mistake.”
“We shouldn’t have started on the softs. That was a mistake, if we could turn back time we would do what those around us did and select the mediums.”
“The reasoning was that the soft tyre… pic.twitter.com/FJ6iqgl2o0
— deni (@fiagirly) September 25, 2024
“…The team continued to suggest that I start on the soft and when they took the blankets off, everyone was on mediums,” Hamilton said in frustration.
Even Russell admitted that Hamilton would not be happy when he saw that everyone else in the top 10 was starting on the harder rubber. “When I saw that, I knew Lewis wouldn’t be happy,” Russell said.
