Lewis Hamilton released a statement on social media addressing criticism of Mercedes’ strategy following last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion started from an excellent third place at the Marina Bay track after a very positive qualification, but fell to sixth place in the race.
What hurt the race for the 39-year-old was the start on the softest component that Pirelli had prepared, since all the drivers from the top 10 qualifiers started on the normal tire – medium.
After the race, Hamilton revealed he “struggled” to start on the medium tires and was “confused” as to why Mercedes wanted to split the strategy between him and George Russell for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Poor management of the race for the elderly Brit left him fuming. However, over the weekend the Mercedes driver gave his opinion on what was going on with his strategy, which the German team bosses described as poor.
“Greetings everyone, we’re going into the weekend focused on training for the next race,” said Hamilton. “I know there was a lot of talk around our last strategy in Singapore that just didn’t work.”
“When that happens, it’s natural to be frustrated and it’s easy for me to speak out in that frustration. We knew that starting on soft tires was a bold and risky move, but one that could give us an advantage at the start, and in the end I agreed with that recommendation. We also miscalculated what others might do.”
Despite Hamilton’s frustration with the situation in Singapore, the 39-year-old stressed that things are still fine with the Silver Arrows. The Briton has only six more races to do as a Mercedes driver, after which he moves to his dream team – Ferrari. Until he makes that change at the end of the year, the Briton insisted that his support for the team will not end.
“Things with the team are fine. As with all successful partnerships, you have to have some lows to have highs. We are not afraid of those uncomfortable conversations and challenging moments, which is why we have achieved so much together.”
“We will support each other until the very end. It’s all love. See you in Austin,” concluded Lewis Hamilton.
