Lewis Hamilton questioned his motivation to carry on during the Singapore Grand Prix as the seven-time world champion was left frustrated after being undercut by team-mate George Russell off the back of an unfavourable Mercedes strategy call.
Hamilton had qualified an impressive third for the Singapore GP, finishing ahead of Russell on Saturday for just the fifth time this season, and Mercedes opted to go aggressive from the outset, starting the Brit on soft compound tyres, with the majority of the field lining up on mediums.
The plan was for Hamilton to attempt a move on second-placed Max Verstappen during the early phase of the race, but the 39-year-old experienced too much wheelspin off the line and was unable to mount a challenge to his former title rival
Then, after his soft compound tyres started to suffer, Mercedes pulled Hamilton into the pit lane for hards with a plan to run to the end of the race. Eventually, this led to him being undercut by Russell as well as Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc.
After Russell filtered out ahead of his team-mate on track, Hamilton came onto the radio to voice his frustrations. “Sometimes I wonder why I do this,” he sighed in a dejected tone. This wasn’t the only time the Brit complained to race engineer Peter Bonnington either.
When the chequered flag did arrive, team principal Toto Wolff had a message for his driver. “Yeah Lewis, sorry,” he said on the radio. “We gave you a car that was just not good enough here and obviously, we read the race wrong, but it wouldn’t have made a difference. We were just slow today.”
Hamilton’s miserable radio communications should serve as a warning to the Mercedes team principal as they head into their final six races together before the veteran Brit makes the transition to Ferrari over the winter.
The Brit has been left frustrated on many occasions this season. The No.44 crew have struggled to get their set-ups correct for qualifying, often leaving Hamilton with too much to do on race day. On these occasions, Mercedes have regularly opted for alternative strategies that have only added more anguish to the weekend.
With Ferrari breaking away towards McLaren and Red Bull at the top end of the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes have little left to fight for over the coming six races, although Wolff and Hamilton will be keen to experience some positive races before their 12-year partnership comes to an end.
