Lewis Hamilton takes blame for crucial Singapore sprint qualifying mistake

Lewis Hamilton has taken the blame for an error during sprint qualifying, which he feels may have impacted his final result.

Hamilton ended the session in sixth place, marking a difficult result for him as he was outpaced by team-mate Charles Leclerc in third.

The seven-time champion was among a small handful of cars that opted to set an early lap during SQ3, rather than wait until the dying moments of the session when the track condition was at its peak.

It was a choice that Hamilton himself made, and suggested that it played a role in his lacklustre result.

“It was looking good in Q1 and Q2, and then I don't really know where it went away,” Hamilton said. 

“We did a slightly different run plan to the others. It was my choice, and I think I got that wrong.”

Hamilton lacked tyre confidence in SQ3

However, he also acknowledged that the switch over to soft tyres for SQ3 brought its own challenges, having felt more comfortable on the mediums in the first two segments.

“But ultimately, just the car was very oversteery on that lap,” he said. “I don't know if the rears were not ready or if they're overheating. 

“It was difficult to say, but it was very, very snappy, oversteery, and it just wasn't a good lap overall.

“On the mediums, it was good. Just much different on the softs, lots of grip, but only on the front and none at the rear. 

“It could be balance, but ultimately I had the pace in the first two sessions, and then all of a sudden I didn't have the grip on the rear for some reason on that last lap.”