Lewis Hamilton has revealed major discussions have been held at Ferrari after their tyre strategy at last week's Bahrain Grand Prix came back to haunt them.

Hamilton qualified on the front row behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen in Malaysia, with Ferrari electing to put the seven-time world champion on slick dry tyres to start. 

The start of the race had been delayed due to the wet conditions on the track, but the Scuderia chose to stick to their guns, only for Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to pay the price.

Once the lights went out, Hamilton and Leclerc were gobbled up by those who had intermediate tyres, with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli two of the biggest beneficiaries. 

Hamilton dropped as low as 14th while Leclerc found himself at the back of the pack after coming in for an early pit stop, though the pair salvaged some good points in the end.

A late overtake on Isack Hadjar saw Hamilton take third behind Verstappen and Antonelli, while Leclerc finished fifth, though Ferrari were left to rue what could have been.

"It wasn't good enough, and we've had a huge discussion about it," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 about Ferrari's strategy at the Bahrain Grand Prix. 

"And we're going to try and work on how we can come to a better conclusion more consistently in the future.

"We do, for some reason, as a team, get far more flack than anybody else. McLaren made the same decision and no one even said anything about it.

"You know, they made some excuse of some sort. McLaren made the same mistake and the same call."

Checking into the Singapore paddock https://t.co/7R5fvGWKRr

— Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) October 8, 2026

The result left Hamilton 106 points behind drivers' championship leader Antonelli heading into this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, though he has enjoyed a strong season. 

Hamilton has scored 214 points in 2026, his best season with Ferrari, after scoring 156 in 2025. With an average of 13.38 points per race, this is his best scoring average in a Formula One campaign since 2021, when he was driving for Mercedes (17.61). 

Ferrari are second in the constructors' championship but find themselves 151 points behind Mercedes, and the Silver Arrows are expected to dominate again this weekend. 

Mercedes and Ferrari have won the joint-most races in Singapore (five), while only Sebastian Vettel (five) has more race wins around the Marina Bay Street Circuit than Hamilton's four, with his last victory coming back in 2018. 

"I think with our car, it's generally good on street circuits, particularly when there's not particularly long straights," Hamilton said of Ferrari's chances of victory. 

"If you look at the last races, we were quick through corners, not so quick on the straight line. This is a high-drag circuit, so I'm hoping the advantage others have on those long straights kind of comes down a little bit, and we can start matching them through keeping up with them on the pace, through corners.

"I think for us, it's just making sure we've got a great, stable platform underneath us, particularly in the bumpy zones because it's bumpy here.

"We've looked at Monaco, we've looked at Montreal, we've looked at Baku's setup. We're coming here and they are requesting something different.

"I've been pushing the car in a certain direction, and I think we are slowly making gains and improvements. We're here to attack.

"Qualifying is key, and it would be really great if we could start tomorrow on the right foot and then just be attacking in qualifying, but we have to wait and see."

DRIVERS TO WATCH

Max Verstappen – Red Bull

After ending his long wait for a first race win of 2026 at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Verstappen will be hoping to celebrate his 250th race for Red Bull with another positive result.

The Dutchman has claimed 72 F1 victories, all of them with Red Bull. Should he win in Singapore, he will become the driver with the second-most victories for a single team in the history of the championship, surpassing Michael Schumacher's 72 wins with Ferrari.

Welcome to Marina Bay, Max #F1 || #SingaporeGP https://t.co/YsvwfCxd7Z

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) October 8, 2026

There is also a sprint race this weekend, something Verstappen will be looking forward to. No driver has taken pole position in consecutive sprints since Verstappen last achieved the feat at the 2024 Miami, Austrian and United States Grands Prix, with George Russell claiming the most recent sprint pole at Zandvoort. 

And after securing pole position, victory and the fastest lap at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Verstappen became the first driver in F1 history to record at least one hat-trick in six consecutive seasons, surpassing Alain Prost's run of five between 1982 and 1986. 

Red Bull have also claimed at least one victory in each of the last 11 seasons, a streak surpassed only by Ferrari (20 seasons between 1994 and 2013) and McLaren (13 between 1981 and 1993), though they last won in Singapore in 2022 with Sergio Perez. 

George Russell – Mercedes

Russell's championship hopes were handed an almighty blow last time out after being forced to retire late in the race with a power unit issue, something that will also hinder his chances of taking a race win in Singapore. 

The Briton will start Sunday's race from the back of the grid because he needs to fit a new engine, which takes him beyond his permitted number for the season, though this is a race that has been kind to him in recent years. 

He won last year's Singapore Grand Prix and could become the first driver to claim back-to-back victories at Marina Bay since Hamilton in 2017 and 2018.

Russell finished inside the top four in the 2024 (fourth) and 2025 (first) editions, after retiring in two (2019 and 2023) and finishing outside the points in his other previous appearance in Singapore (14th in 2022). 

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers'

1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 320

2. George Russell (Mercedes) – 236

3. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 214

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 191

5. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 188

Constructors'

1. Mercedes – 556

2. Ferrari – 405

3. McLaren – 316

4. Red Bull – 298

5. Racing Bulls – 90