Ferrari team principal Vasseur after Hamilton’s mistake: “We need to have a word with him”

In Singapore, Ferrari finally did what it had failed to do on several previous occasions: spread the chances around. Charles Leclerc (2nd on the grid) started the race on soft Pirelli tyres, whilst Lewis Hamilton (3rd on the grid) started on medium tyres.

During the rather lacklustre race, Ferrari used a virtual safety car period to bring Leclerc in for another pit stop. The Monegasque driver was able to close the gap on leader Verstappen towards the end, but it wasn’t enough for victory.

Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, did not pit; towards the end of the race, the seven-time world champion stood no chance against the closing Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, leaving the Briton to finish in a disappointing sixth place.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur put it all into perspective as follows: “The decision to stay out on track was Lewis’s. We called both cars in under the VSC. But Lewis missed the pit entry, and that’s a real shame, because he would have finished third.”

“I’m not angry. Overall, it was a good weekend. Yesterday we finished second and third in the Sprint, and today second and sixth in a long race.”

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“But today there was a chance to finish second and third, and it’s a shame to lose World Championship points in this way. We need to talk to Hamilton about this to try and avoid such situations in future.”

“Overall, both drivers did an excellent job. When we asked them to swap positions on the track, they did so; they had a clear and fair attitude towards each other. They really did a brilliant job, apart from Hamilton’s pit stop – because, at the end of the day, we lost ten points this weekend.”