When it came to his Mercedes squad at the Singapore Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was not happy.
Lewis Hamilton said that his Mercedes team was “killing him” due of their audacious tire strategy for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Mercedes took additional precautions when choosing their tyres, and the seven-time world champion improved his qualifying performance to secure a P3 start for the race around the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
With nearly all of their competitors starting the race on medium tires, Hamilton was given a great chance to pass Max Verstappen, who was in second place, at the start of the race.
Regretfully, the seven-time world champion experienced significant wheelspin off the starting line and was only able to make a hesitant pass on Verstappen, who was in position, at Turn One.
After that, Hamilton fell back into teammate George Russell’s clutches on mediums. On lap 18, Mercedes decided to pull the 39-year-old in for hard as he was having trouble with tire temperatures.
Hamilton reported issues on Lap 27, despite his initial claims during his second stint that Mercedes had halted him too soon. “Guy, there’s a serious issue with the car,” he said to Peter Bonnington. “Tyres are dropping off.”
Hamilton fell behind his teammate and persisted in his protests, saying, “You’re killing me with this offset, mate,” when Russell finally stopped.