After Lewis Hamilton became enraged during the Singapore Grand Prix, Toto Wolff has acknowledged that his team “read the race wrong.” After starting third on the grid, the British driver slipped to sixth at the checkered flag.
Hamilton had one of his best qualifying runs on Saturday, securing a third-place starting position for the Grand Prix with his Mercedes; however, Mercedes gambled away his hopes of a high finish with an audacious move.
The seven-time world champion put on some soft compound Pirelli rubber in an attempt to get a jump on second-placed Max Verstappen during the early going, as the majority of the race began on mediums. This did not happen, as Mercedes’ in-race strategy was imposed by the choice of tires.
Mercedes boxed the British driver on lap 18 for hards after he overheated his tires, leaving him with a lengthy race of management ahead of him. Hamilton repeatedly objected to the choice over the radio, claiming that by entering the game so much earlier than his rivals, the team was “killing him.”
This tactic caused the renowned British athlete to fall three spots. Charles Leclerc, George Russell, and Oscar Piastri all outscored him with a favorable medium-to-hard transition. Mercedes has finally acknowledged their error.
This strategy dropped the well-known British athlete three positions. With a good medium-to-hard transition, Oscar Piastri, George Russell, and Charles Leclerc all outscored him. Mercedes has at last admitted its mistake.
“That was really the only chance to pass. We all made the wrong choice when we came to that decision collectively. Although it felt like a good offset, we could only drive one way—backwards—with the rear tire deg we had.
“There was a rationale for it, of course, but it was clearly against our better judgment, and it doesn’t change the fact that the automobile is moving too slowly. It makes no difference if the enemy is in front or behind.”
Mercedes is currently attempting to escape a challenging run. Before the summer break, the Silver Arrows won three of their last four races. However, Hamilton hasn’t done much better than P5 in his last four races, while teammate Russell has only finished on the podium once in his last six races.
