{"id":3822,"date":"2026-10-11T11:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T14:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=3822"},"modified":"2026-10-11T11:27:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T14:27:46","slug":"hamilton-apologises-to-ferrari-after-singapore-gp-strategy-gamble-my-call-and-i-lost-us-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/hamilton-apologises-to-ferrari-after-singapore-gp-strategy-gamble-my-call-and-i-lost-us-points\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamilton apologises to Ferrari after Singapore GP strategy gamble: “My call, and I lost us points”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lewis Hamilton apologised to Ferrari after finishing sixth in the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday (11 October), accepting responsibility for a strategy decision that cost the team valuable championship points. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion had started third and spent much of the race fighting for a podium before losing positions to Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sorry, boys. I let you down today with that strategy. My call, and I lost us valuable points. I’ll try and make up for it in the next one,” Hamilton said over the Ferrari team radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message was a direct admission from the British driver that he had influenced the strategic decision. It also distinguished his assessment from previous occasions when Ferrari’s race management had come under scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamilton had qualified third, just 0.123 seconds behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen, placing Ferrari in a strong position with Charles Leclerc starting second. The two red cars were expected to challenge Red Bull at Marina Bay, particularly given their pace over a single lap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Verstappen converted pole position into victory<\/a>, with Leclerc securing second place for Ferrari. Hamilton’s race developed differently, as the tyre strategy left him increasingly exposed during the closing stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamilton’s strategy decision costs Ferrari a potential podium<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hamilton had been in contention for a top-three finish, but his position deteriorated as the race progressed. Antonelli, Norris and Piastri eventually finished ahead of him, leaving the Ferrari driver sixth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The precise strategic choice Hamilton was referring to in his apology has not yet been independently established from the radio message alone. His admission confirms that he considered himself responsible for the decision, but does not by itself identify the tyre compound, pit-stop timing or alternative strategy that would have produced a better result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outcome was particularly disappointing because Ferrari had entered the race with both drivers among the leading contenders. Leclerc’s second place demonstrated the SF-26’s competitiveness, while Hamilton was unable to convert his third-place starting position into a podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The episode also follows Hamilton’s admission of a costly strategic decision during Singapore sprint qualifying<\/a>, when he accepted responsibility for a different run plan that failed to deliver the expected result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferrari had faced similar strategic questions at previous rounds. Following the Malaysian Grand Prix, Hamilton’s recovery from more than a minute behind raised questions about whether a different starting tyre could have changed his result<\/a>, although that recovery did not establish that victory had been possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Lewis Hamilton (Photo: AFP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ferrari loses ground in another missed opportunity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ferrari collected 26 points in Singapore, with Leclerc scoring 18 for second place and Hamilton adding eight for sixth. The result kept the team in the fight near the front of the Constructors’ Championship, but Hamilton’s lost positions prevented a larger return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercedes scored 17 points through Antonelli’s third place and George Russell’s ninth, while McLaren collected 22 with Norris fourth and Piastri fifth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamilton’s apology also came after a weekend in which Ferrari had appeared capable of challenging Verstappen for victory. The British driver had expressed confidence after qualifying that the team could use both cars to put pressure on the Red Bull driver, but the opportunity did not translate into the result he had hoped for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next opportunity comes at the United States Grand Prix in Austin on October 23\u201325, where Hamilton will attempt to recover from the disappointment of Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GRANDE PR\u00caMIO continues its Formula 1 coverage<\/a> ahead of the next round of the championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lewis Hamilton admitted responsibility for a strategy decision that cost Ferrari valuable points in Singapore, promising to make up for the mistake at the next race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020318008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Lewis Hamilton","42wp_featured_image_credits":"AFP","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":58,"location":""}],"footnotes":"","42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[325,56,63,248],"42wp_author":[58],"class_list":["post-3822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-f1-2026","tag-ferrari","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-singapore-gp","42wp_author-vicente-soella"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3822"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3825,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3822\/revisions\/3825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020318008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3822"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=3822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}