Former Formula 1 strategist and Sky Sports pundit Bernie Collins believes Lewis Hamilton is suffering from a “lack of trust” in Ferrari’s pitwall following the Singapore Grand Prix.
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli is closing in on the drivers’ championship title, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dominated the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s race unravelled during a virtual safety car period.
After initially pitting on the 19th lap, Hamilton had the opportunity for a cheaper second stop under the virtual safety car on lap 40 when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll stopped on the track with a clutch issue.
Despite being called in by Ferrari after his team-mate Charles Leclerc, the seven-time champion decided to stay out on track to try and make the one-stop strategy work.
By the latter stages of the race, Hamilton was struggling on the older tyres. He ultimately finished sixth.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show, Collins argued the incident demonstrated Hamilton’s lack of trust in the team.
“Someone of Lewis’s stature doesn’t forget to do a pitstop. So let’s say it’s a decision to not take the pit entry or the call didn’t come in time or whatever. But that was crucial, I think, to the race at that point,” she explained.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
“Now, if we go back a week to Malaysia, we had the same sort of lack of trust for want of another word. They started on a dry tyre. Then the call came to switch to an intermediate tyre. Lewis said, ‘That’s the wrong thing. We need to stick this out now.’
“He had a discussion with the pitwall, stayed on the tyre that he was on and ultimately that ended up very similar to Leclerc towards the end of the race. However, I do think that shows more globally that Lewis isn’t trusting that Ferrari team. He’s questioning their decisions.”
Hamilton apologised to the team after the race, confirming it was his call to remain on track.
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