Mercedes put Lewis Hamilton on the soft set of tires for the start at the Singapore GP, which caused the Brit to finish in P6.
The relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes has been full of ups and downs this year.
Earlier the German marque was alleged to have sabotaged the Brit in races, but later on, the pair managed to win races together.
Their relationship suffered a major blow at the Singapore GP when Hamilton was left unhappy with the team’s recommended strategy for him.
However, he looked back upon his remarks and claimed that all things were fine between him and the team.
Lewis Hamilton has been a four-time race winner at Singapore and wanted to add another win to his tally. Though he was not the outright pace-setter, his stellar lap in Q3 helped him start P3 on the grid. Witnessing his great qualifying result, fans expected him to at least get a podium from the race weekend. However, Mercedes wanted to split the strategy between the two teammates, and the 39-year-old was on the wrong side of the coin.
Hamilton was perplexed by the team’s suggestion to start on softs. He fell down the pack in race trim and his subpar strategy was the main reason behind it. This caused him to express his frustration in an event hosted by the team’s sponsor, which spooled up controversies within the paddock.
Make no mistake though, things are cool with the team. As with all successful partnerships, you have to have some lows to have the highs. We’re not afraid of those tricky conversations and challenging moments which is why we have achieved so much together. We will support each other to the every end. It’s all love. See you in Austin.
Lewis Hamilton wrote
On the other hand, the seven-time champion posted a story on Instagram where he asserted that things between him and the team are all fine. Moreover, he explained that a relationship has to go through various phases of highs and lows, and the Singapore GP weekend was an inevitable low, but the team-driver pair would still give their all in the upcoming races.
Mercedes was gambling for a safety car with Lewis Hamilton’ soft tire strategy
Hamilton was the only driver on a set of soft tires in the first stint. This illustrated how the soft compound was a terrible tire in race trim where longevity is crucial at a track like Marina Bay. Subsequently, this posed questions on the Brackley-based squad to justify the Englishman’s race start on the soft tires, and the team revealed the reason behind it.
While the team initially wanted Hamilton to get the jump on his rivals, this soon changed to the team hoping for a safety car.
So, it was there in the hutch, could have used it, would have been good at a Safety Car, but in a normal uninterrupted race, which for the first time in forever we got in Singapore, that tyre was not a thing that would have helped Lewis’ weekend.
James Allison VIa Mercedes’ debrief
Mercedes’ technical director James Allison, elaborated that the team was looking for the prospect of a two-stopper. However, their plans went down the drain as Singapore witnessed its first Safety Car-less race, ruining the 39-year-old’s race.
On the contrary, George Russell had a good weekend in Singapore and was able to secure P4. This aided the young Brit to get an upper hand in the intra-team rivalry and continue his strong run of performances.
