New clip surfaces showing Lewis Hamilton ignoring Ferrari’s call to pit during the VSC period
Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton had a disastrous Singapore GP where he finished P6 after starting P3. Now, a new clip of Hamilton ignoring Ferrari’s pit call during the VSC at Marina Bay Street Circuit has surfaced.
Hamilton started the race on medium tyres and was the only one to do so in the Top 6. Less than 20 laps into the race, the Briton started struggling with pace. Ferrari moved Hamilton from a one-stop to a two-stop strategy, and pitted him for soft tyres.
On Lap 39, Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin stopped on track due to a clutch issue, which brought out the VSC. This was the perfect window for the Briton’s second stop. However, when Ferrari asked him to box, Lewis Hamilton decided to ignore the call.
During the race, it wasn’t clear whether Ferrari had asked Hamilton to box under the VSC. But after the race, Fred Vasseur confirmed that the Briton had indeed been asked to box. Now, a new clip has surfaced showing how the seven-time champion ignored the pit call.
The clip revealed the conversation between Lewis Hamilton and his race engineer Carlo Santi.
𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶: “Yellow flag, 15. Virtual Safety Car. Virtual Safety Car. Stay positive.”
𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶: “Mode Safety Car.”
𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶: “Tyre pressure update when you can.”
𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶: “Tyre pressure update when you can.”
𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶: “Box, Lewis, box.”
𝗟𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗻: “Gap behind us?”
𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶: “Gap behind Antonelli, 8 seconds.”
𝗛𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗻: “Guys, if we’re double stacking, we might lose time.”
𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶: “Understood.”
𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶: “And box, box. So Lewis, we are boxing for soft.”
This is the conversation from Lap 39. Hamilton proceeded to ignore the box-box call. The team radio after that was.
𝗟𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗻: “How many laps?”
𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶: “23 to go.”
𝗛𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗼𝗻: “There’s a gap behind us?”
𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶: “Antonelli is in pit.”
𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶: “Virtual Safety Car ending.”
𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶: “Mode race.”
With Lewis Hamilton deciding to stay out, Kimi Antonelli, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were able to pass him in the later stages of the race. The Briton apologized to the team on the radio after the race.
Lewis Hamilton releases statement as he apologized to Ferrari after the race
Lewis Hamilton missed the post-race media duties at the Singapore GP. The Briton wasn’t feeling well and was seen by the FIA medical team. The FIA medical team gave him permission to skip the media scrum given his condition. On Monday, Hamilton came out and released a statement, which read,
“Yesterday wasn’t the result we were looking for, and that’s on me. At a track that’s difficult to overtake, you need to try something different and I chose a strategy that ultimately didn’t deliver. It’s a painful lesson to learn, but I take full responsibility for the decisions I made. In this sport, not every call will work out. It’s about accepting when you get it wrong and how you move forward.”
Charles Leclerc finished P2 at the Singapore GP. It could’ve been a double podium for Ferrari had Hamilton decided to accept the pit call under VSC.
