Ferrari role in Lewis Hamilton Singapore blunder questioned by former F1 strategist

Ferrari needs to be braced for some “very difficult” conversations with Lewis Hamilton after his decision to override the team at the Singapore Grand Prix. 

Hamilton finished sixth in Singapore after the seven-time world champion chose not to pit when he was called in along with team-mate Charles Leclerc by Ferrari during a virtual safety car. 

The gamble backfired with Hamilton ultimately losing what appeared to be a certain podium finish on his mammoth 44-lap run to the chequered flag on soft tyres. 

Former Aston Martin strategist and Sky Sports F1 pundit Bernie Collins believes Hamilton’s call shows a distinct lack of trust within Ferrari. 

"That shows, more globally, that Lewis isn't trusting that Ferrari team,” Collins told the Sky Sports F1 Show podcast. 

"He's questioning their decisions and in this sort of quick-decision VSC moment, there's not the time to have all the back and forth about what he thinks or why he thinks it or doesn't think it.

"But it's very difficult from a pit wall and Lewis's side to then think, 'okay, last week I questioned them. I think I was correct. This week I'm going to question them, maybe I'm correct or incorrect.’

"And then there was opportunity later on, I think, even after they missed the VSC, to do a full pit stop and still be able to beat Piastri and they didn't take that either.

"There was the decision then to string it out and hope for another safety car.

"There were lots of decisions that should have been done differently and they should be having a very difficult conversation between Lewis and his engineers, or the strategy team or Fred [Vasseur], whoever needs to be involved, to say, 'where is the trust?

'When we make these decisions, what is the protocol for how that decision is taken and why?’”

Collins argued that Ferrari should have done a better job of keeping Hamilton informed. 

"In my opinion, yes, [drivers] should [defer to the pit wall]," Collins added. “They're the people with the most information. They're the people with the big picture.

"However, there's another band of thought that says the driver is the most expensive sensor in the car. And I often had situations with Sebastian Vettel, who was very strong strategically, where we ended up starting to give him pit stop information earlier than we would give another driver in order to give him a sort of right to reply.

"If your driver regularly questions strategy, then you need to maybe give them the information.

"Many teams, lots and lots of teams in the situation that Ferrari were in, five laps before the safety car would have said, 'if there's a safety car now, we will take it and double stack the cars'. And that gives Lewis a chance to say, 'I think that's right, I think that's wrong’.

"You've a bit of a discussion about it. Yes, you're giving away information to other teams, which people don't want to do, but you're making the right decision for you and that is your P1 goal. So they need to bring the conversation forward if there's going to be a back and forth."