Mercedes ruins Lewis Hamilton’s F1 race in Singapore: reasoning behind strange strategy. Why Mercedes made a wrong, but well-considered, decision in Singapore Grand Prix.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton secured third position in the qualifying session for the 2024 Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix. A session filled with several twists, which led Mercedes to make a wrong, but well-considered, decision.

A calculated risk…
For the start of the Singapore Grand Prix, the Brackley team decided to fit the red tire on car number 44, hoping to achieve the much-desired “track position” over one of Verstappen or Norris, or even both.

Given the Marina Bay track layout, if Lewis Hamilton had gained a position at the start, he could have held it until the checkered flag.

This possibility led Mercedes to take a risk, also aware of the complicated situations for Oscar Piastri (starting fifth) and the Ferrari SF-24 cars of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz (barely in the top 10).

If Lewis Hamilton had started seventh, for instance, the chosen strategy would have made no sense. Given the scenario, however, the risk was calculated with only one goal in mind: to win.

…That didn’t pay off, but it’s not the end of the world
In hindsight, it’s easy to say that the pit stop to switch to white tires was too early, thus ruining the seven-time Formula 1 world champion’s race at the 4.94-kilometre Marina Bay Street Circuit. Finally, there are two more factors that justify the decision made: the driver’s (and the team’s) track record, along with an irrelevant championship situation. In short, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have nothing to lose in this final stretch of the 2024 Formula 1 campaign, and a “wasted” third place is certainly not going to change their legacy.

On the other hand, it’s better to try everything to win, even if it means going against simulations and data, which increasingly dominate modern Formula 1.