Hamilton stays out under VSC, finishes sixth in Singapore

Lewis Hamilton finished sixth at the Singapore Grand Prix after staying out under the virtual safety car. He later said the call was his and had cost Ferrari valuable points. Team principal Fred Vasseur said Ferrari's call had been to pit both cars, but Hamilton chose to remain on track.

The VSC was deployed on lap 39 after Lance Stroll pulled aside with a suspected clutch issue. Hamilton had already completed 21 laps on soft tyres, while Charles Leclerc's mediums were 15 laps old. Leclerc took advantage of the neutralisation for a cheap second stop; Hamilton stayed out.

Ferrari could have stopped both cars in sequence: they were 4.4 seconds apart and going through Turns 10-11 when the VSC was imposed. Hamilton completed a 44-lap stint on the softs, but finished behind Oscar Piastri, who had to pit after the VSC because of a slow puncture.

Hamilton apologised to the team on the radio after the race. Vasseur called the choice a mistake and said Ferrari would have gone for second and third if both cars had pitted. Hamilton finished nearly 46 seconds behind Leclerc; after Verstappen's win, Hamilton held an eight-point lead over him in the drivers' standings.