Ferrari reveal error that caused Lewis Hamilton’s Singapore GP brake issue

Ferrari have blamed a “mistake” with their simulation tools for Lewis Hamilton’s brake issue at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton was forced to crawl around the Marina Bay Street Circuit after his brakes began to fail in the final laps.

On the final lap in Singapore, Hamilton lost over 40 seconds in race time and had to cut corners to make it to the chequered flag.

Hamilton was on course to finish sixth but dropped to eighth, losing out to Fernando Alonso due to a post-race time penalty for track limits.

Ferrari’s Matteo Togninalli told reporters in Austin that they had been “a bit too aggressive” with how they set up the brakes on their cars.

“Formula 1 is always a trade-off between risk and pushing to the limit,” he said as quoted by Motorsport.com. “In Singapore, consciously, we approached the quali and the race with a car that we knew was on the limit. We were aware that in the race, we would need some management for the brakes.

“Then due to the situation, due to the level of management that we have done, we arrived to run out of brakes the last four laps of the race.

“So we were a bit too aggressive, that is a mistake. I think we have to admit when we make mistakes.”

Charles Leclerc was also forced into brake management early on in Singapore. 

Unlike Hamilton, Leclerc didn’t have to push at the end of the race, meaning he could manage his brakes more effectively.

Togninalli hinted that Ferrari’s simulation tools hadn’t warned them that their choice wasn't optimal. 

“Our method was not able to predict the fact that the choice was too aggressive,” he added.

“So we have to improve the tools to be able to predict what is going to happen.

“If everything is smooth and easy, it’s difficult to learn. So when you are at the limit, you learn. As well as in Mexico, we have to be a bit more conscious. I think it’s just a reasonable approach.”

Ferrari stopped upgrades “earlier” than rivals

In recent rounds, Ferrari have slipped back behind Red Bull and Mercedes.

Max Verstappen won the Italian and Azerbaijan races from pole position, while George Russell came out on top in Singapore.

Togninalli explained Ferrari decided to stop their development earlier than some of their rivals.

“As a strategic decision, we decided to stop the development of the car probably earlier than some of the main competitors,” he added.

“If you look, you’re talking about P7 or P2 by one tenth, two tenths. So now everybody is very packed, everybody is very close to each other.

“It means they stopped the development one package earlier. It’s that tenth that is making everything more difficult.”