Ferrari strategy misfired, Leclerc third and Hamilton sixth in Singapore
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 9, 2026
Hamilton strategy call
Ferrari’s call to start Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on slick tires in wet conditions at Sepang, Malaysia, drew a blunt response from Hamilton, who said the choice was “not good enough.” He said the decision came from a group that included Fred Vasseur, Matteo Togninalli, his engineer and himself, and he added that he had pushed for intermediates because the track was wet. Hamilton said the car felt oversteery on the soft tires and lacked rear grip, even though he had felt comfortable on the mediums earlier. He also defended Ferrari, saying “McLaren made the same mistake,” and argued McLaren did not face the same level of scrutiny. Hamilton said he was grateful for the podium finish and credited the late safety car for helping secure third. He said Ferrari had already gone over the mistake and would work to make better calls going forward.
Ferrari SQ3 misfire
Ferrari showed pace early in Singapore, with Hamilton and Leclerc finishing 1-2 in SQ2, but the final phase of qualifying did not deliver the same result. Hamilton said the run plan for SQ3 was his choice and admitted it was the wrong one. His single lap on soft tires left him sixth in SQ3, 0.546 seconds behind Max Verstappen, and Ferrari’s late strategy did not match what its rivals did. Leclerc qualified third, while Hamilton was set to start the sprint race from sixth and still had another chance in Saturday qualifying. Hamilton said Ferrari’s car should suit the Marina Bay street circuit, and he pointed to qualifying as the key test in the season’s final Sprint weekend. That left Ferrari with work to do after a session that promised more than it produced. The team had looked sharp in the middle part of the session, then lost momentum when the pressure rose and the decisive laps arrived. Hamilton’s comments made clear that Ferrari saw the call as a missed opportunity, not a lack of speed.
Leclerc pace warning
Leclerc did not hide the fact that Ferrari still had limits to overcome. He said Singapore looked “pretty good for Ferrari on paper,” but he warned that the team could not lean on past results at the Marina Bay street circuit and would find winning difficult. Leclerc also said Ferrari’s raw pace had fallen off in recent races, even though he still believed the team could fight near the front. That view matched the mixed picture from the weekend. Ferrari had enough speed to sit near the top in SQ2, then saw the payoff fade when the final strategy call did not line up with the track conditions. Leclerc’s third-place effort gave Ferrari a strong starting spot, but his comments underlined the gap between being competitive and being the team to beat. Hamilton’s sixth-place start and his criticism of the tire call added to the sense that Ferrari still had to sharpen both execution and judgment if it wanted to turn promising sessions into results.
