Hamilton left 'so angry' by Mercedes F1 decision

Lewis Hamilton has revealed he was “so angry” with Mercedes' decision to start him on the soft tyres at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton was the only driver inside the top 10, and one of only two drivers in the entire field, to start the race on the soft compound.

His rivals around him all took the medium compound for the opening stint - a strategy that Hamilton was keen to make use of.

“We sat in our meeting in the morning of the race, actually the night before they already mentioned that they would like to split the cars,” Hamilton stated at an event for Mercedes' sponsor Petronas.

“And for me, I was a bit perplexed by it. Because in the past, when we’ve ever been in that position.

“Normally if George has qualified well like he normally does and I’m out of the top 10 or something, then we’ll split the strategies, but when we were so close, it didn’t make sense to me.

“So I battled as hard as I could to fight to go on the medium tyre, but the team continued to suggest that I started on the soft.

“And then when they took the tyre blankets off, everyone was on mediums.”

Russell, who was also at the event, chimed in: “When I saw that, I was thinking, ‘Lewis won’t be happy…'”

Hamilton was overcut by Russell later in the race and went on to cross the line in sixth, marking his second worst result around the Marina Bay Circuit.

“I was so angry, so already from that moment I’m frustrated,” Hamilton added, regarding his strategy.

“And then I tried my best to keep up with the guys ahead. They were too fast. 

“And then I just tried to make that tyre last as long as could and I had to stop on Lap 17.

“I knew from that moment, then the race was done for me, because the hard tyre was going to be a struggle in that heat.

“And we’d been struggling with the balance of the car all weekend, so we were changing so many different things. We got a good qualifying, but unfortunately, the race was too much of a struggle for us.”