Ferrari arrived at Marina Bay with the pace to beat Max Verstappen and left with a single podium, after Lewis Hamilton turned down a pit stop under the Virtual Safety Car and faded from third to sixth in the closing laps of the Singapore Grand Prix.
Hamilton had started third on the medium tyre, aiming to make one stop work at a track where passing is hard. He was the first driver to pit, for softs, and had recovered into the top three when the Virtual Safety Car came out. Ferrari called both cars in for a double stop. Charles Leclerc took it; Hamilton missed the pit entry and then chose to stay out and hold track position.
His tyres gave out over the final laps. Kimi Antonelli and both McLarens went past, and Hamilton finished sixth while Leclerc took second behind Verstappen. Team principal Fred Vasseur told F1 TV the call was a mistake and that Ferrari would otherwise have finished second and third.
Hamilton apologised over the radio on the in-lap and, after feeling unwell and being seen by the FIA medical team, skipped the media pen and released a statement instead. "A painful lesson today, but I take full responsibility for the decisions I made," he said.
The swing mattered most at the top of the table. Antonelli's third place, with Mercedes team-mate George Russell recovering only to ninth from the back of the grid, leaves the Italian 102 points clear with six rounds and 150 points left. If he leaves the next round in Austin at least 125 points ahead, the title is his. Told this after the race, Antonelli's first reaction was surprise.
Source
Original summary by Proventier.