‘Do you ask McLaren this many?’ – Ferrari boss hits out at reporter over Lewis Hamilton questions

FERRARI boss Fred Vasseur has hit back at the questioning of Lewis Hamilton’s strategy disaster at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion started the race in P3 but finished a disappointing sixth in front of girlfriend Kim Kardashian.

His teammate Charles Leclerc outshone him to come second, between race-winner Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli in third.

Hamilton made the wrong call to stay out when the VSC came out on lap 39, while Leclerc and Antonelli pitted.

Ferrari had told Hamilton to come in, and the pit-crew had fresh tyres ready, but he overrode the decision.

It meant the Brit did a whopping 44 laps overall on his soft tyres – a lot more than any of the other drivers, crushing his hopes of a podium.

Vasseur appeared frustrated when asked about the incident and referenced McLaren who saw their drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri crash into each other on the penultimate lap of the sprint race.

He said: “Did you ask so many questions to McLaren yesterday?
Interviewer: “Yes, we did.

Vasseur: “It was very clear. We were P2-P3 on track and we called two cars: ‘Guys, you pit under the VSC, and one of my guys said: ‘No, I prefer to stay on track and I missed the pit-entry’.’ Don’t blame the team.

Interviewer: “I am not blaming the team. What I was going to ask was, after [the VSC call], was there a subsequent call after that to definitively stop?

Vasseur: “We were not sure to be able to go to the end.

Interviewer: “But did he actually get called and decide not to again?

Vasseur: “No, no, no, no. We were just monitoring.”

The Frenchman said in another interview: “We called them both to pit. It would have been P2/P3 because we were P2/P3 on track.

“He missed the pit entry and honestly it’s a bit of a shame because he’s losing a podium.”