How McLaren avoided Lewis Hamilton strategy trap at Singapore GP

McLaren sensed the strategy black hole which Lewis Hamilton fell into even before it happened.

It was for that reason McLaren opted against splitting its strategy for the Singapore Grand Prix, as Ferrari did with its drivers.

McLaren sensed strategy flaw experienced by Lewis Hamilton

Charles Leclerc launched from the front row at Marina Bay on soft tyres. Hamilton began on mediums in third, as Ferrari opted to split strategies against the Red Bull of Max Verstappen on pole.

The red-walled soft, displaying lower degradation than anticipated, emerged as the stronger race tyre. Hamilton ended up becoming the first driver to pit of that leading trio.

McLaren had already envisaged that such a struggle on the medium could develop, so started Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, from the third row, on softs.

“We didn’t split the starting tyre between our two drivers because we thought that the medium wasn’t a great tyre,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained to PlanetF1.com and others after the Singapore Grand Prix.

“So we wanted to take the maximum advantage as possible in the early phases of the race, including the start and the first lap.

“We thought that the medium might have meant that you could have lost ground compared to the other cars, which I think is actually what happened with Hamilton, and then might have forced you to pit early.

“So, like pretty much the race that happened to Hamilton is the race that we did not want to have.

“Once the other cars pitted, we tried to stay out to see if a safety car could give us the benefit of the reduced pit delta, which here is quite powerful, up to 12 seconds. But unfortunately there was no safety car, and we pretty much raced for the same position as before the stop.

“So I think from a strategy point of view, the strategy was overall pretty well managed by our team.”

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Hamilton went on to commit to a one-stop, off his own back. Ferrari expected him to pit under the virtual safety car triggered by Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin.

That decision dropped him into the clutches of Norris and Kimi Antonelli.

Both Hamilton and Norris went off at Turn 1, opening the door for Antonelli to swoop past the latter. The championship leader cleared the Ferrari shortly after to complete the Singapore podium.

Norris also cleared the seven-time world champion, as did Piastri after catching the struggling Ferrari in the closing stages. That was despite Piastri having completed a second pit stop due to a slow puncture.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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