Hamilton ignores Ferrari pit call in Singapore, loses podium and apologises to team

Lewis Hamilton finished sixth at the 2026 Singapore Grand Prix after overruling a Ferrari pit call during a virtual safety car period, a decision that cost him a likely podium and prompted an on-radio apology to his team at Marina Bay.

Hamilton had pitted on lap 18 for soft tyres as part of what appeared to be a planned two-stop strategy. When Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin stopped on track and the VSC was deployed, Ferrari called both its cars in. Charles Leclerc complied; Hamilton did not. The choice left him running 44 laps to the flag on the same set of softs, and he steadily lost ground through the field, eventually surrendering fifth place to Oscar Piastri’s McLaren — a driver who had made an unscheduled stop for a slow puncture.

Former driver and pundit Martin Brundle, writing his post-race column, described the call as “bizarre”. “Appearing to be on a clear two-stop strategy, he pitted as early as Lap 18 for soft tyres,” Brundle wrote. “Bizarrely, he would not stop again, despite the opportunity to make a relatively cheap pitstop under a Virtual Safety Car when Lance Stroll’s stricken Aston Martin had to be cleared from the circuit.”

Brundle added that the episode was “telling”, noting that Ferrari had clearly expected Hamilton to take the pit window and that managing team strategy from the cockpit of a modern F1 car is inherently difficult.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur was equally direct when speaking to reporters after the race. “We lost the podium with this,” he said, estimating Hamilton would have finished second or third had he stopped. On the moment the instruction was ignored, Vasseur confirmed: “When we asked them to pit, Lewis wanted to stay on track.”

Hamilton did not deflect responsibility. Over the radio immediately after taking the chequered flag, he told the team: “Sorry, boys. I let you down today with that stra—” before the transmission cut off. He later confirmed the one-stop call had been his own and apologised to the team.

The result leaves Hamilton without a podium in Singapore and underlines the communication challenges that can arise when a driver’s instinct conflicts with the strategy wall’s data — particularly at a street circuit where tyre management is critical and track position is difficult to recover once lost.