- Published
Lewis Hamilton apologised to his Ferrari team after overriding the pit wall and choosing his own strategy during the Singapore Grand Prix.
asserted
Hamilton → publish → Prix
Ferrari were on course to finish second and third with Charles Leclerc and Hamilton, but instead the seven-time champion fell back to sixth in the closing laps as he fought a losing battle to hold off three cars while on fading tyres.
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he → finish → tyres
Hamilton apologised to the team over the radio on the slowing-down lap after the race, saying: "Sorry, boys.
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Hamilton → apologise → race
I let you down today with that strategy.
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I → let → strategy
My call, and I lost us valuable points.
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I → lose → points
I'll try and make up for it in the next one."
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I → try → one
Team principal Frederic Vasseur said: "Clearly we asked them to pit.
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we → say → them
Charles pitted.
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Charles → pit → ?
Lewis didn't want to pit because he...
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Lewis → want → ?
I don't know why.
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I → know → ?
And then he realised it was the wrong call.
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it → realise → ?
It's why he apologised to the team.
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he → apologise → team
"Now it's not a drama for me that he made the wrong call.
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he → make → call
I'm making mistakes, he's making mistakes, we're all making mistakes sometimes.
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we → make → mistakes
Now we have to look ahead and make mistakes positively."
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we → have → mistakes
Hamilton did not speak to the media after the race after saying he felt unwell and being given permission to miss the interview zone, known as the media pen.
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he → speak → pen
In a statement released by Ferrari, he said: "Under the virtual safety car, the team called me in but I missed the entry.
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I → release → entry
After that, I decided to stay out and try to hold track position to the end but
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I → decide → end
in the closing laps, I was struggling massively with tyre degradation and lost three places, finishing P6, which doesn't reflect the pace we had in the car.
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we → close → car
"A painful lesson, but I take full responsibility for the decisions I made.
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I → take → decisions
Not every call will work out, and I can accept getting it wrong but I'm sorry for the team for the points we lost today.
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we → work → points
They put so much into every weekend, and I wanted to deliver more for them.
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I → put → them
I'll continue to put the work in and come back fighting at the next race."
Ferrari called both cars in to the pits during a virtual safety car that was called mid-race.
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that → continue → car
Stopping under the VSC saves about 10 seconds versus stopping under racing conditions.
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Stopping → stop → conditions
Hamilton said in the statement that his decision was based on his improved pace on the soft-compound tyre after he had been forced to make an earlier pit stop than planned because the medium tyre on which he started the race was not performing.
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he → say → race
"At a track (where it's) difficult to overtake, you need to try something different and I chose to start on a new medium tyre, to go long and try to make a one-stop work," he said.
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he → overtake → work
"Unfortunately the medium didn't perform as well as the soft.
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medium → perform → soft
I had a good second stint and the pace was back, but I couldn't make the progress I needed."
His first stop was six laps before Leclerc's and when the Monegasque emerged back on to the track, Hamilton was right behind him and was initially faster.
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Hamilton → have → him
At one stage, he pointed out to the team that he had "lost two seconds on that lap", but the team decided not to invert the cars.
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team → point → cars
Hamilton followed Leclerc within two seconds for a further 10 laps before slowly starting to lose ground a couple of laps before the VSC.
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Hamilton → follow → VSC
Vasseur said the team decided to leave Leclerc in front because he had pitted later than Hamilton.
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he → say → Hamilton
"The tyre advantage was for Charles, that he pitted six laps later," Vasseur said.
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Vasseur → pit → Charles
"I think it was the right call."
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it → think → ?
However, that argument appears to be somewhat undermined by the fact that the medium tyre emerged as the worst option for the race - as Hamilton had found out in the first stint and other drivers found later on.
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drivers → appear → stint
Leclerc was put back on the soft when he stopped under the VSC.
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he → put → VSC
Antonelli knows title is 'very close'
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title → know → ?
Hamilton's error means Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli is in a position to clinch his first world title at the next race, the US Grand Prix in Austin, after finishing third behind race winner Max Verstappen and Leclerc.
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Antonelli → mean → Verstappen
Antonelli's lead over team-mate George Russell, who finished ninth after starting from the back of the grid, has extended to 102 points and 111 over Hamilton.
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who → finish → Hamilton
The Italian needs to leave Austin with an advantage of at least 125 points to clinch the title, with five races at most remaining after that.
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races → need → that
He will do so if he wins the race with Russell finishing ninth or lower and Hamilton fifth or lower at the Circuit of the Americas on 25 October.
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Russell → do → October
…and 42 more, not listed.
The Aporia
