(Reuters) – Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton said things were OK between him and the Mercedes team, days after criticising their strategy during last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, in which he finished sixth.
Hamilton, 39, had qualified in the third position, but was left frustrated after his team asked him to start with soft tyres, while he wanted to use medium instead.
“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 … everyone was on medium,” Hamilton said later at an event.
The team’s technical director James Allison acknowledged the mistake, saying it ruined the race for Hamilton, who is sixth in the championship with 174 points, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen leads with 331.
However, Hamilton took to social media on Saturday to say the soft tyre strategy was a bold and risky move that could have given him an advantage at the start of the race, but did not pay off.
“I know there has been a lot of chat around the last one and our strategy in Singapore, which just didn’t work. When that happens, it’s natural to be frustrated and easy for me to speak out in that frustration,” the Briton wrote on the Instagram app.
“Make no mistake though, things are cool with the team … we’re not afraid of those tricky conversations and challenging moments, which is why we have achieved so much together. We will support each other to the very end.”
Hamilton said his focus was on the next race, set for Austin next month.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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