As Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur faced the media following Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix, the hot topic was Lewis Hamilton.
Most of the questions revolved around the unsuccessful strategy that saw Hamilton collapse from third to sixth in the Marina Bay race, as he stayed out under the VSC to complete a mammoth 44-lap stint on soft tyres.
Across the last 22 of those, following the neutralisation, Hamilton haemorrhaged 2.5s a lap on average relative to Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc. That is how he ended up sixth behind Kimi Antonelli and the McLarens.
With the unwell Briton exempted from his post-race media commitments to visit the medical centre instead, Vasseur faced scrutiny from journalists keen to establish how that decision was made to the highest level of detail. And the Frenchman wasn’t enjoying that prospect; he even interrupted the first question, suggesting it wasn’t necessarily “the big event of the weekend”.
Regardless, Hamilton’s post-race radio apology made it clear that he had made the call to stay out during the VSC – so how exactly did that discussion pan out?
“[It] was very clear,” Vasseur insisted. “We were P2-P3 on the track. We called two cars, ‘Guys, you pit behind the VSC’. One of my guys said, ‘No, I prefer to stay on track’. Or he didn’t say – he said, ‘I missed the pit entry’.
“Don’t blame the team.”
Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari
Photo by: Anni Graf – Formula 1 via Getty Images
Vasseur, who was yet to speak to his driver, said Hamilton’s decision was “clearly a mistake”, doubling down on what he previously told broadcasters.
But is it OK for a driver to override the team’s strategy, given he does not have the same exhaustive data and global view as engineers do?
“When you see the outcome, it was not a good call,” Vasseur admitted. “But on the other hand, quite often you are also telling us that we have to listen to the drivers, because they are into the car, they have the feeling with their tyres and so on.
“But I think on this one it was clear for me. But I have also to respect their feeling when they are into the car.”
Hamilton: “A painful lesson today”
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images
Ferrari subsequently provided a statement from Hamilton – making up for his absence in the post-race media pen – in which the seven-time world champion described the setback as a “painful lesson”.
“Today wasn’t the result we were looking for and it was on me,” Hamilton was quoted as saying. “At a track that’s difficult to overtake, you need to try something different and I chose to start on a new medium tyre, to go long and try to make a one-stop work. Unfortunately, the medium didn’t perform as well as the soft.
“I had a good second stint and the pace was back, but I couldn’t make the progress I needed. Under the VSC, the team called me in but I missed the entry. After that, I decided to stay out and try to hold track position to the end but, in the closing laps, I was struggling massively with tyre degradation and lost three places, finishing P6, which doesn’t reflect the pace we had in the car today.
“A painful lesson today, but I take full responsibility for the decisions I made. Not every call will work out, and I can accept getting it wrong but I’m sorry for the team for the points we lost today. They put so much into every weekend, and I wanted to deliver more for them.
“I’ll continue to put the work in and come back fighting at the next race.”
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