Hamilton admits tyre gamble backfired to leave him sixth in Singapore sprint shootout

Lewis Hamilton will line up sixth for the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint after a tyre strategy gamble of his own making unravelled during the decisive SQ3 session of Friday’s sprint shootout at Marina Bay Street Circuit.

While the rest of the Formula 1 field completed multiple cooldown laps to bring their temperature-sensitive Pirelli soft tyres up to the correct operating window, Hamilton requested that Ferrari run a different preparation sequence on his side of the garage — a single cooldown lap before his final flying effort. The plan failed immediately, leaving the seven-time world champion with severe rear-grip loss and heavy oversteer on the red-walled softs.

“In SQ3 we tried a different run plan, which in hindsight wasn’t the right call,” Hamilton told reporters in the Singapore paddock. “The car felt good on the Mediums, but I struggled with rear grip on the Softs, especially on my final lap.”

The contrast with the earlier segments was stark. Through SQ1 and SQ2, the Ferrari SF-26 had looked well-balanced on the medium compound, giving Hamilton genuine hope of a front-row start on the tight, twisting street circuit. The switch to softs for the final session exposed a fragility that he is still working to understand.

“We need to understand whether that came down to tyre preparation, balance or overheating,” Hamilton said, outlining the three variables his engineers must now unpick before the Sprint.

Team-mate Charles Leclerc avoided the same fate, completing a conventional preparation run to qualify third — a result that underlines how costly Hamilton’s deviation proved. The 41-year-old was quick to accept personal responsibility, making clear the call originated from his side of the garage rather than from Ferrari’s strategists.

Despite the setback, Hamilton struck a measured tone when assessing the broader picture. “The pace was there earlier in the day, and although it didn’t come together today, we’ll focus on what we’ve learnt and how to extract more tomorrow,” he said.

Overtaking at Marina Bay is notoriously difficult given the circuit’s narrow layout and abundance of slow-speed corners, which means track position gained in qualifying carries unusual weight. Starting sixth, Hamilton faces a significant challenge if he is to work his way into contention during the Sprint.