Formula 1 pundit and former W Series driver Naomi Schiff speculated that Lewis Hamilton’s botched tyre strategy in the Singapore Grand Prix was spawned from a distrust of how Ferrari may have dealt with the situation at the Marina Bay Circuit.
The British driver finished sixth at the Marina Bay venue, dropping three places from his grid position, having taken complete autonomy of his own strategy during a chaotic phase of the race.
Hamilton made the crucial decision to stay out during a Virtual Safety Car period, whereas many others pitted immediately, including teammate Charles Leclerc.
This tactical gamble effectively left the seven-time World Champion exposed, and in the closing stages of the race, he came under intense attack from Lando Norris and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who both successfully overtook him.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1 after the chequered flag, Schiff theorised that Hamilton was taking charge of the pitwall strategy due to a lingering lack of faith in the Scuderia’s decision-making process.
"I’m not that surprised," she said regarding the internal dynamics. "I think they’ve sort of lost trust with each other on making the right decisions in certain circumstances."
"Do you blame Lewis today? Yes maybe he made the wrong call, but do you blame the team last week? Yes, they made the wrong call then. So I understand why Lewis is challenging them because he’s not always confident that they are going to make the right decision.", she added.
However, Hamilton’s former teammate, Jenson Button, did not share Schiff’s cynical view, seeing the move instead as a bold gamble that simply backfired under pressure.
"I don’t know, I disagree," the 2009 World Champion stated. "I just think he 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 his pace was there when he was on the Soft tyre."
Despite the strategic miscalculation, Hamilton took full ownership of the decision and showed great maturity by apologising to the team on the cool-down lap, drawing widespread respect from the paddock.
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