Lewis Hamilton may have "lost trust" in Ferrari as a result of the team's penchant for a strategy howler. That was the claim made by Naomi Schiff as the latest questionable decision was analysed on Sky Sports after the Singapore Grand Prix.
This time, though, it was Hamilton who was responsible for making the wrong call during a race, ignoring the instruction to pit under the virtual safety car while following his team-mate. Lance Stroll pulled over at the side of the track, prompting the VSC which presented an opportunity for cheap pit stops. Ferrari decided to take it and called both their drivers into the pit lane. Charles Leclerc complied, but Hamilton went against the call.
Costly decision
That left him doing more than half the race on a very old set of soft tyres which ran out of juice long before the end of the race. The seven-time world champion was a sitting duck as a result and, having been running in third place, he tumbled down the order and ended up finishing a distant sixth.
He apologised over the radio for getting it wrong and, after climbing out of the car, crouched in parc ferme and stared at the floor. It soon became clear that he was feeling unwell as Ferrari confirmed he had gone to the medical centre to see the FIA doctor.
Team principal's reaction
Speaking after the race, Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur confirmed that Hamilton had gone against the team's wishes. He said: "We called them both to pit and it would have been a P2 and P3, because we were P2 and P3 on track. Lewis missed the pit entry and, honestly, it's a bit of a shame because he lost a podium. It was crystal clear on the radio. His performance was okay this weekend, we have to focus on the future."
The situation caused a debate among the pundits covering the race for Sky Sports. Schiff was the first to speak and pointed to Hamilton's decision to go against what Ferrari wanted to do as evidence that the seven-time world champion does not believe in his team to get it tight, after they made the wrong tyre call a week earlier in Malaysia.
Pundits divided
Schiff said: "I'm not surprised, though. I think they've sort of lost trust in each other, in making the right decisions in certain circumstances. Today, yes, he made the wrong call. But do you blame the team last week? They made the wrong call then. So I understand why Lewis is challenging them because he's not always confident that they're going to make the right decision, and maybe today he really desperately wanted to get ahead of his team-mate and get that track position which, at a track like this, can make all the difference."
At the SkyPad, analysing the footage, former F1 racer Karun Chandhok pointed out: "He didn't even attempt it. It's not like it was one of those where he attempted to go into the pit entry and stayed out, it's just, for whatever reason, he's not even attempted [to pit]. He's quite clearly stayed out."
But then 2009 F1 champion Jenson Button weighed in and made it clear he wasn't aligned with Schiff on this one. He said: "I disagree. I think he just wanted to make his call on the race and he thought it was the right one. He didn't want to be sat behind his team-mate for the rest of the race, basically, he wanted to give it a go. And he knew the pace was there when he was on the soft tyre. I really respect him for apologising straight after the race – it's the best way to do it and now they move on."
