Hamilton owned the strategic call that cost him a shot at sprint pole on Friday. Ferrari sent its two cars out on different plans in SQ3: Leclerc took enough fuel for a second attempt, while Hamilton committed to a single flying lap and tried to split the gap between the early runners and the late ones.
Rivals had gone to the two extremes. Mercedes and McLaren pushed their drivers out early in the shootout; Red Bull waited until the closing moments. Hamilton’s compromise never found the best window.
Speaking after the session, he did not shift the blame onto the car or the pit wall.
“We did a slightly different run plan to the others. It was my choice, and I think we got that wrong.”
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Hamilton’s time of 1:31.702 left him 0.546s off Verstappen and behind Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, with Leclerc salvaging third for Ferrari.
The car worked on mediums, not on softs
The deeper problem on Hamilton’s single lap was rear grip. He had looked quick on mediums in SQ1 and SQ2 before switching to the soft compound for the pole run.
“I had the pace in the first two sessions, and then all of a sudden, I just couldn’t pull. I didn’t have the grip on the rear for some reason on the last half of the lap.”
He pointed to oversteer that he could not get on top of.
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“But ultimately, just the car was very oversteering on that lap. I don’t know if the rears were not ready or if they’re overheating.”
The compound difference was the thing he kept coming back to.
“The mediums was good. Yeah, just much different on the soft. Lots of grip, but only on the front and not the rear.”
Leclerc warns Ferrari has lost pace
Leclerc’s third place, 0.243s off Verstappen’s 1:31.156, was Ferrari’s best news of the afternoon. He did not sell it as one. The Monegasque told the team’s own site that the SF-26 is simply slower than it was a few rounds ago.
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“I don’t think it should be an excuse. I think the real pace the last three or four races, we’ve lost a little bit of our performance and we’re just not fast enough to fight with them just yet.”
Verstappen’s pole lap was his first in qualifying at Marina Bay. George Russell slotted the second Mercedes into P2, with the McLarens of Piastri and Norris between the Ferraris.
Antonelli seventh, but still 84 clear
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli could manage only seventh in the other Mercedes, 0.693s off Verstappen’s pole time. His sprint weekend starts behind both Ferraris and both McLarens.
The margin on the overall standings is a different story. The Italian arrived in Singapore with 320 points and eight wins, 84 clear of Russell and 106 ahead of Hamilton, with seven rounds left and 175 points still on the table.
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The 21-lap sprint runs at 5pm local time on Saturday at Marina Bay, with grand prix qualifying later the same evening at 9pm local time.
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