Briton was against it

Hamilton and Mercedes disagree: “Makes no sense”

Lewis Hamilton criticizes the tire strategy in Singapore.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Andrej ISAKOVIC)

Having started third, Lewis Hamilton only finished the Singapore Grand Prix in sixth place. The reason for this was probably the Silver Arrows' tire strategy. Which the Briton said he could not understand ...

Background: In contrast to the competition, Hamilton had been fitted with soft tires - probably in the hope that the 39-year-old would be able to overtake Verstappen at the start. However, the plan backfired and instead of making up places, Hamilton missed out on the podium and had to settle for P6 in the end.

"Was a bit at a loss"
At an event organized by Mercedes sponsor Petronas, Hamilton explained that the team had already decided the evening before the race to split the cars, i.e. to start with different strategies. "I was a bit perplexed. If George (Russell, ed.) qualified well, as he normally does, and I'm not in the top 10, we split the strategies, but we were so close together. It didn't make sense to me," said the seven-time world champion.

Hamilton begged to be allowed to start on mediums, but his team was adamant. When he then realized that he was the only one besides Daniel Ricciardo to start on a soft compound, his frustration got the better of him. "I tried my best to keep up with the guys in front of me, but they were too fast. I tried to run the tire as long as possible and had to stop on lap 17. From that moment on, I knew the race was over for me, because the hard tire was going to be a struggle in this heat." We can only hope that the Englishman's concerns are heard in Austin and that he gets the tires he wants on October 20 ...