Hamilton claims Ferrari gets ‘more flak’ than rivals for F1 strategy mistakes

SINGAPORE – Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari gets “more flak” than rival teams for its mistakes, with McLaren not receiving the same attention for its decision to start the Bahrain GP on soft tyres.

Ferrari made the call to start both Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on the soft Pirelli tyres after a lengthy delay following a suspended start procedure.

Lewis Hamilton defends Ferrari after Bahrain GP tyre strategy mistake

With the track appearing to dry out, just under half the field elected to fit either soft or medium slick tyres – Ferrari included.

It was quickly evident that it was the wrong tyre as the track had not dried out as much as expected.

“It’s so slippery, guys. It’s dangerous,” Hamilton told his race engineer Carlo Santi.

Hamilton and Leclerc fell to the back of the field, prompting Ferrari to call Leclerc in for an early stop.

Hamilton decided to stay out, a decision that ultimately netted him third place in the Grand Prix.

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur defended Ferrari’s decision.

“Based on our feeling on the grid, I think 50% of the car went for slick, 50 for wet,” he told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media.

“You just have a look on the Tarmac in front of you in the pit lane, and for sure it was not a good one.

“But no, it’s not that I have no regrets. For sure, it’s clear that it was better to start with the inter, but we did the choice with the information that we had.”

But while Ferrari wasn’t the only team to start on the slick tyres, it was the one that made the headlines for its strategy.

Hamilton believes Ferrari faces unwarranted criticism for its mistakes, while other teams don’t receive the same attention.

“We do,” the seven-time world champion told Sky Sports. “For some reason, as a team get far more flak than anybody else.

“McLaren made the same decision, and no one even said anything about it.

“You know, they made some excuse of some sort. McLaren made the same mistake and the same call.”

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The Briton went on to defend his team over what he called a collective decision.

He added: “It was ultimately a mistake, but it’s not the strategists. I think, unfortunately, my strategy team gets the brunt of the (criticism for the) call.

“But in actual fact, the call didn’t come from the strategist. The call comes from collectively, us working together.

“Fred, (head of track engineering) Matteo (Togninalli), myself, my engineer, we make the decision together. And we discuss it, and we put our input; we put all our ideas and information into the pot, whether that’s good or not…

“I went into the pit lane, I’m like, ‘it’s wet’. I go to the pit wall, I’m like, ‘it’s wet’. Come back to the garage, I’m like, ‘guys, we should be on the inters’.

“And then they all give a different perspective. And if you’ve got three people giving you a different perspective, you eventually get convinced by that. And you’re like, ‘OK, I’ll go with what you suggest.’ And that’s how you work as a team.

“And you hope three are more right than one. But in some scenarios, it’s the other way around. And you were right, and your gut feeling was right. And then you’re like, ‘damn, I should have gone with my gut’. But everyone’s generally trying to do the best they can.”

Hamilton is third in the Drivers’ Championship on 214 points, with P2 within his sights as he trails his former teammate George Russell by 22 points.

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