Pit call missed: Hamilton throws away Singapore podium, Vasseur unhappy
Ferrari wanted to pit Lewis Hamilton under the virtual safety car, but he stayed out and fell from third to sixth. "My decision," the Briton admitted over the radio.
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After the Singapore Grand Prix, Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur put the responsibility for a missed podium on Lewis Hamilton. When Lance Stroll stopped his Aston Martin on lap 39 and the virtual safety car was deployed, Ferrari called both cars in. Charles Leclerc took fresh tyres and finished second behind Max Verstappen, while Hamilton stayed out on used softs and eventually lost three places – having started third, he finished sixth.
"It was completely Lewis' decision. We called him in, but he didn't come in," Vasseur said, according to SPORT1 (translated from German). He would have finished third, the team boss said, adding that the team would talk it through with him internally. According to Motorsport-Total.com, Hamilton lost about 2.5 seconds per lap to Leclerc over the last 22 laps and finished almost 46 seconds behind him.
Hamilton took the blame on the radio, saying it was his decision and had cost the team valuable points. In a later statement he said, according to Motorsport-Total.com, that he had missed the pit entry. He is third in the drivers' standings on 229 points, 111 behind leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli.