Mercedes admit to mistake that made Hamilton "so angry" in Singapore

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F1 Mercedes aware of mistake which made Lewis Hamilton angry in Singapore
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  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

Mercedes has admitted to making a mistake with their strategy ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix. The mistake made Lewis Hamilton angry before the race had even started and he argued against that decision. James Allison has now explained why they split the strategies started Hamilton on the soft tyre at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Almost everyone on the grid started on the medium tyres. Inside the top 13, only Hamilton started on the soft tyres. His teammate went with the other strategy and started on the medium. During the race, Russell overcut Hamilton and finished in fourth, while the seven-time World Champion only managed sixth place.

Why did Mercedes start Hamilton on the soft tyres?

"We shouldn't have started on the soft tyres. That was a mistake. If we could turn back time, we would do what those around us did and select the mediums. The reasoning was the soft tyre very often allows you to get away from the start abruptly and allows you a good chance of jumping a place or two in the opening laps of the race," James Allison explained in the Mercedes debrief.

"We had no expectation before the race that we would suffer the difficulties we experianced on the soft rubber. We imagined we would get the upside of the soft rubber by getting a place or two. We didn't because that isn't the way the start played out. We hoped the downside of the softs being fragile wouldn't play out badly because on the whole, looking back at the years, the pace starts easy in Singapore and the drivers build up the pace over the laps. We didn't get the places at the start and the pace built from lap five," the technical director added.

This article has been created in collaboration with Estéban den Toom