Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur has confirmed that Lewis Hamilton’s decision to reject a pit stop under the Virtual Safety Car during the Singapore Grand Prix cost the team a podium finish, calling the call “a mistake overall.”
Hamilton, running in the top three when the VSC was deployed, declined Ferrari’s instruction to pit alongside teammate Charles Leclerc in a double stack. The decision left him on aging tyres over the final laps, and he was subsequently passed by Kimi Antonelli and McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, dropping to sixth at the chequered flag.
“The call was to pit and Lewis decided to stay on track,” Vasseur told F1 TV after the race. “I think it was a mistake overall — we would’ve gone for P2 and P3 today. He apologised on the in-lap for the strategy. We asked him to call and he didn’t.”
Hamilton had already pitted just 19 laps into the race after struggling for pace on his medium tyres, and had worked his way back into the top three before the VSC opportunity arose. Leclerc, who had pitted under the VSC, retained his position ahead of his teammate.
Speaking separately to Sky Sports F1, Vasseur said the team had kept both strategic options open heading into the VSC window. “We called them both to pit — it would have been P2 and P3 because we were P2 and P3 on track. He missed the pit entry. Honestly, it’s a bit of a shame because he lost a podium too.”
Hamilton acknowledged the error on his in-lap radio message. “Sorry boys, I let you down with that strategy,” the Briton told his team. The result denied him what would have been his seventh Grand Prix podium of the season.
Despite the disappointment, Vasseur struck a forward-looking tone. “He was crystal clear on the radio. Now let’s be focused on Austin. The performance this weekend was okay. We have to be focused on the future.”
The Singapore weekend had opened promisingly for Ferrari, with Hamilton and Leclerc finishing second and third respectively in the Sprint before swapping positions in qualifying, giving the team the platform to run split strategies against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.