In Singapore, Lewis Hamilton started the race on soft tyres, and he was the only one to do so in the front of the grid. The Mercedes F1 driver reveals that he fought internally to have the decision not taken, and to be able to start on medium tyres.
“It wasn’t funny” Hamilton said. “We met in the morning before the race and the night before they had already mentioned that they would like to separate the cars.
“I was a bit perplexed because in the past when we were in this position, if George had qualified well, as he usually does, and I wasn’t in the top 10 or something like that, then we would share strategies.”
“But when we were so close it didn’t make sense to me and I fought as hard as I could to get on the medium tyre, but the team kept suggesting I go on the soft. When they took the tyre covers off everyone was on the mediums.”
The Briton did not like to discover this and lost all hope: “I was so angry. From that moment on, I was frustrated. I tried my best to follow the guys in front of me, but they were too fast.”
“Then I just tried to make that tire last as long as possible. I had to stop on lap 17 and I knew from that moment the race was over for me because the hard tire was going to be difficult to use in that heat.”
“We struggled with the balance of the car all weekend. We changed so many different things. We had a really good qualifying, but unfortunately the race was too difficult for us.”
Wolff also acknowledges Mercedes’ mistake
Toto Wolff himself acknowledged that Mercedes F1 made a mistake, although the team was convinced that it would be more interesting, given the past editions of the Singapore Grand Prix.
“We made a decision based on the historic racing in Singapore, where it’s basically a procession, Monaco-style, and we thought the soft tyre would give him an opportunity at the start. That was pretty much the only overtaking opportunity.”
“It was a bad decision that we all made together. It looked like a good shift, but with the rear tyre degradation that we had, there was only one way to go, and that was backwards. So there was logic behind that decision, but it was obviously contrary to what we should have decided.”
“And it doesn’t mask the fact that the car is too slow. It was a very bad race from us. It’s not about looking at positions, fourth and sixth, that’s not good, especially when you start third and fourth.”
Related News :