Lewis Hamilton has taken responsibility for his strategy in Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix, after a decision not to pit under a virtual safety car cost him dear.

The VSC was called into action by race control on lap 39 when Lance Stroll pulled aside due to a suspected clutch issue in his Aston Martin.

At that stage of the race, Hamilton had already done 21 laps on softs, while Leclerc was on a 15-lap medium stint – but it was the Monegasque only who made the most of the VSC for a cheap second pitstop.

The Ferraris, which were running second and third, could easily have been double-stacked given they were 4.4 seconds apart and going through Turns 10-11 when the VSC was enforced.

As it happens, it was Hamilton himself who decided to stay out for a mammoth 44-lap stint on softs. This was a failure, as he collapsed to sixth, even behind Oscar Piastri, who had to stop after the VSC due to a slow puncture.

The seven-time world champion was nearly 46 seconds down on team-mate Leclerc on the chequered flag, with his tactical call therefore costing him about 41.5 seconds.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images

“Sorry, boys,” Hamilton said on the radio after the race. “I let you down today with that strategy. My call, and I lost us valuable points. I’ll try and make up for it in the next one. Great job with the pitstop though.”

Racing engineer Carlo Santi replied: “Understood, thank you Lewis.”

The British driver was subsequently taken to the medical centre due to feeling unwell, Sky Sports F1 reported, and given dispensation to skip his post-race media commitments so was not available to comment.

Team principal Fred Vasseur explained to F1 TV that Ferrari split the cars at the start, with front-row Leclerc on softs instead of mediums, in order to have a shot at snatching the lead away from polesitter Max Verstappen – which the Monegasque very nearly did.

Answering for the decision under VSC, Vasseur added: “The call was to pit two and Lewis decided to stay on track.

“I think it was a mistake overall, we would have gone for P2-P3 today, but he apologised in the in-lap for the strategy that we asked him to call and he didn't.”

Hamilton’s poor result means his advantage over fourth-placed Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings has dwindled to eight points, following the Dutchman’s maiden Singapore Grand Prix victory.

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- The Autosport.com Team