Hamilton apologises to Ferrari over his costly race strategy call

Ferrari's British driver Lewis Hamilton finished sixth in the Grand Prix and apologised to his team over the radio right after the finish, admitting that the strategy he chose had cost the team valuable points.

Hamilton started third on medium tyres to differ from the front row, which started on softs. He could not keep pace with Verstappen and Leclerc, but stayed third, and after switching tyres on lap 18 he closed in on Leclerc again. However, 44 laps remained, which meant either a two-stop strategy or a very difficult finish on heavily worn soft tyres.

When a virtual safety car came out, Leclerc pitted, while Hamilton stayed out and moved up to second. But the decision not to change tyres proved a mistake: Leclerc quickly regained second place, and Hamilton struggled through the final laps. He was passed by Antonelli of Mercedes, as well as Norris and Piastri of McLaren.

“Sorry, guys. I let you down with the strategy choice. It was my call, and it cost us valuable points. I'll try to make up for it next time,” the driver said. He added: “You were great at the pit stop.”

After 17 races this season, Hamilton is in third place in the drivers' standings, nine points behind second-placed Russell of Mercedes. He is now 111 points behind leader Antonelli, so the seven-time world champion's chances of a record eighth title look purely mathematical. In the constructors' standings, Ferrari are comfortably second with 444 points and 134 points behind leaders Mercedes.

This Formula 1 season began on March 8 with the Australian Grand Prix and ends on December 6 in Abu Dhabi. British driver Lando Norris and his McLaren team are the defending champions.

Source: sport.cz