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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton claimed that it was hard for him to 'stay positive' after a tough race at the 2024 F1 Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday. The seven-time world champion started the race from P3 behind Lando Norris and Max Verstappen after a stellar performance in the qualifying session on Saturday.
The British driver took a gamble by starting the race on used soft tires in an attempt to make positions on Lap 1. But the move did not pay off as the 39-year-old slipped back from the leading group after a couple of laps.
In a surprising move, Mercedes decided to go for an early pit stop and put Hamilton on hard tires in an attempt to execute an undercut on Max Verstappen but the risk did not pay off as he found himself battling the midfield in order to make his way back into the points.
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In the latter half of the race, the Brit was a sitting duck for Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc as both drivers made their way past after pitting much later than the former.
On his team radio, Lewis Hamilton's race engineer Peter Bonnington said that the tire gamble did not work as he crossed the line in P6. He said:
“Ok, well done Lewis, mate. Thats P6. That tire gamble really shot us in the foot there.”
The seven-time world champion gave a dignified response despite being disappointed with the result, saying:
"Yeah, definitely hard to stay positive after that weekend but still grateful for all of you guys. The pit stops… thanks for showing up.”
Mercedes team boss apologizes to Lewis Hamilton in Singapore
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said he was 'sorry' that the German team could not provide both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell with a competitive car for the main race in Singapore despite locking out the second row.
The Austrian said:
“Sorry we gave the two of you a car that wasn’t good enough. We read the race wrong but it wouldn’t have made a difference we were just slow today.”
The former world champions later revealed that both drivers would not be attending the post-race interviews in the presser as they were exhausted:
"Unfortunately neither George or Lewis will be attending the media pen this evening as they recover from the exertions from this evening's race."
Lewis Hamilton's teammate George Russell finished the race a valiant P4 after defending from Charles Leclerc in the final laps.
