Hamilton Explains Why He Rejected Ferrari's Strategy Call

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton has explained why he did not follow his team's second call to pit at the Singapore Grand Prix. Hamilton recalled that by not pitting under the Virtual Safety Car in the closing stages of the race, he dropped from the podium to sixth place. Until now, his post-race comments had been limited to a team statement and a social media post.

Speaking at a press conference in Austin, the driver described the events in his own words for the first time. Hamilton summed up why he started the race on a different tyre from his teammate Charles Leclerc: he did not think a strategy that would only bring him second or third was good enough, and he wanted to try different options.

Hamilton said he hoped the medium-hard tyre would last longer, but did not get the expected performance in the first stint. He then acknowledged that he lost considerable time after running behind Leclerc. The driver compared the situation to a similar scenario at Zandvoort.

Hamilton stressed that he takes responsibility for the mistake and wants to learn from it. He said, however, that the experience will not change his approach of questioning established patterns, even when that means going against team instructions.