Vasseur calls Hamilton’s Singapore decision a mistake, but says teams must listen to drivers

Fred Vasseur called Lewis Hamilton’s decision to stay out under the virtual safety car at the Singapore Grand Prix “clearly a mistake”. The Ferrari driver fell from third to sixth. Vasseur nevertheless said he had to respect a driver’s feel for the tyres, and noted he had not yet spoken to Hamilton when he made that assessment after the race.

Hamilton said Ferrari called him into the pits under the VSC, but he missed the entry and chose to stay out to protect track position. That left him with a 44-lap stint on soft tyres; he said he struggled badly with degradation in the closing laps.

Hamilton said he had started on a new medium tyre to go long and try to make a one-stop strategy work, but added that the medium had not performed as well as the soft. He also said he took full responsibility for his decisions and apologized to Ferrari for the points lost.