Simulation “mistake” led to Hamilton brake error at F1 Singapore GP

Ferrari has conceded a “mistake” with its simulations led to Lewis Hamilton suffering a brake problem late in the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion struggled with his brakes during the final four laps at Marina Bay last time out and this caused him to commit too many track limit violations, claiming he had no choice but to cut corners.

It resulted in a five-second penalty for Hamilton, who dropped behind Fernando Alonso into eighth place, despite previously enjoying a significant advantage over the Aston Martin.

Matteo Togninalli, Ferrari’s head of track engineering, addressed the issue in Austin ahead of this weekend’s United States GP, saying: “Formula 1 is always a trade-off between risk and pushing to the limit.

“In Singapore, consciously, we approached the quali and the race with a car that we knew was on the limit. We were aware that in the race, we would need some management for the brakes.

“Then due to the situation, due to the level of management that we have done, we arrived to run out of brakes the last four laps of the race.

“So we were a bit too aggressive, that is a mistake. I think we have to admit when we make mistakes.”

The Italian added that the team is now reviewing everything, claiming “our method was not able to predict the fact that the choice was too aggressive”.

“So we have to improve the tools to be able to predict what is going to happen,” he explained.

Togninalli also revealed that next week’s Mexican GP will be “critical” in knowing if Ferrari has improved in this regard due to its similar intensity levels to Singapore. 

However, with it being such short notice, Togninalli was asked if it simply means being more cautious at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, to which he responded: “We are speeding up the process of improving the tools. We have a good sample now because most of the time you learn from critical cases.

“If everything is smooth and easy, it’s difficult to learn. So when you are at the limit, you learn. As well as in Mexico, we have to be a bit more conscious. I think it’s just a reasonable approach.”

The 2025 season has been a disappointing campaign for Ferrari on the whole, as it has failed to kick on from its runner-up finish last year, when it battled McLaren for the constructors’ crown until the Abu Dhabi finale.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP via Getty Images

But this year it is third in the championship, 352 points off leaders McLaren, is yet to win a grand prix and has even fallen behind Mercedes and Red Bull in recent races.

Togninalli, however, revealed that Ferrari stopped developments of its car early ahead of the widespread regulation changes next year.

“As a strategic decision, we decided to stop the development of the car probably earlier than some of the main competitors,” he said.

“If you look, you’re talking about P7 or P2 by one tenth, two tenths. So now everybody is very packed, everybody is very close to each other.

“It means they stopped the development one package earlier. It’s that tenth that is making everything more difficult.”

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– The Autosport.com Team