Charles Leclerc tells Ferrari why they put Lewis Hamilton in a ‘very difficult situation’ in Singapore

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If anyone is going to have sympathy for the issues that Lewis Hamilton experienced during the Singapore Grand Prix, it’s his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.

It appears as though Lewis Hamilton was going to secure a fifth-place finish for Ferrari at the Singapore Grand Prix after utilising a clever two-stop strategy.

Hamilton fell behind Charles Leclerc at the start of the race, and their main target was Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli, with Fernando Alonso holding up the rest of the pack.

However, the gap that Alonso created allowed Hamilton to change onto the soft tyres for the final stint of the race, and after Leclerc let him through, he quickly caught the young Italian.

While the television broadcast was concentrating on Lando Norris and Max Verstappen’s battle for second, Hamilton’s speed was rapidly declining.

Antonelli and Leclerc quickly sped away from Hamilton after his brakes failed, leaving him vulnerable to Alonso, despite being at one point 45 seconds ahead of the Spaniard.

Alonso was furious with Hamilton over the team radio, lamenting the seven-time world champion cutting corners to finish 0.4 seconds ahead of him.

Not only that, he was irate that Hamilton wasn’t told to stop, given the severity of his issues, and suggested that he occasionally gets preferential treatment from the stewards.

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family

Charles Leclerc says Lewis Hamilton was put in a ‘really difficult situation’ by Ferrari at the Singapore Grand Prix

Leclerc was asked during an interview with Sky Sports F1 (5/10 4:11 pm) about Ferrari’s brake issue in Singapore at the end of the race, and he explained: “Oh, not to the end [of the race], it’s been like that from lap seven, or lap eight of the race.

“So, I had to manage a lot. For sure, there’s some lap time in it, but I don’t want to blame it all on that because it’s a track where everybody has to manage their brakes to some extent.

“I think Lewis and I, probably a lot more than the others, and we paid the price for it.

“I think also the fact that maybe Lewis obviously having more grip with the new tyres, was pushing more on the brakes, as is always the case and that put him in a very difficult situation because when you have the grip and you see the P5, you try everything to get there.

“But the brakes couldn’t handle that, and also on my side, it’s been tough.”

It was then put to Leclerc that the issue was overheating during the race, and he clarified: “I need to speak with the team, but yeah, surely they were too hot in these temperatures.”

READ MORE: Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc’s life outside F1 from net worth to girlfriend

Lewis Hamilton focuses on the ‘positives’ for Ferrari after the Singapore Grand Prix

Hamilton looked like he was going to close the gap slightly on Leclerc in the drivers’ championship before the final few laps.

Instead, the Monegasque driver’s advantage grew to 48 points with six race weekends remaining, although Leclerc sounded fed up in his post-race interview.

Despite his tricky end to the race, Hamilton was in a far better mood, and in his post-race media session, he said: “It has been a challenging couple of days, but there were definitely some positives to take.

“I’ve felt good in the car all weekend, and we had a strong final third of the race. The softs gave us great attacking pace and meant I could close down a big gap to the cars ahead, but unfortunately, a brake issue cost us the overtake and the chance to score more points.

“We had the potential to be further ahead this weekend, starting from qualifying, so the focus now is on maximising what we have going into Austin and executing cleanly to bring home as many points as possible.”

The question for Ferrari is whether the upcoming 2026 regulation changes are going to be a much-needed reset point or a continuation of the struggles they’ve faced recently.

If it’s the second option, then Hamilton and Leclerc might end up facing far bigger questions about their Formula 1 futures.