Lewis Hamilton calls Singapore GP strategy 'painful lesson' after Ferrari apology - ESPN

Lewis Hamilton described his decision to ignore a Ferrari pit call as a «painful lesson» after it dropped him from third place to sixth in the final 12 laps of Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton's race unraveled when he ignored a call from the Ferrari pit wall to follow teammate Charles Leclerc into the pits under a virtual safety car period in the second half of the race.

The decision left him committed to a monster 44-lap stint on a single set of soft tires, which allowed three rivals on fresher tires to overtake him in the closing stages of the race.

Speaking on team radio after the checkered flag, Hamilton apologized to his team for ignoring its pit call, which would have provided a time-efficient pit stop under the VSC.

«Sorry, boys,» Hamilton said. «I let you down today with that strategy.

»My call, and I lost us valuable points. I'll try and make up for it in the next one. Great job with the pit stop, though."

Hamilton was given permission to skip his postrace media sessions after he felt unwell following Sunday's 62-lap race.

The Singapore Grand Prix is among the most physically grueling races on the calendar, taking place in intense heat and humidity around the 3-mile street circuit just north of the equator.

Ferrari issued a statement from Hamilton after the race in which he apologized again to his team.

«Today wasn't the result we were looking for and it was on me,» Hamilton said. «At a track that's difficult to overtake, you need to try something different and I chose to start on a new medium tyre, to go long and try to make a one-stop work. Unfortunately the medium didn't perform as well as the soft.

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