Lewis Hamilton has reflected on his Singapore Grand Prix mistake insisting that he has learned a 'painful lesson'.

Hamilton was running third in Singapore when he was called into the pits to double stack behind Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc under the virtual safety car.

However, the seven-time world champion ignored this call to instead stay out on old soft tyres in a bid to make a one-stop strategy work and claim second place.

This immediately backfired as the tyres did not have enough performance to prove competitive until the end of the race, enabling the likes of Leclerc, Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and the two McLaren's of Lando Norris and Oscar pIastri on a two-strop strategy to breeze past with ease, relegating the 41-year-old to sixth place.

Hamilton immediately took the blame, messaging his Ferrari team over the radio once the race had ended to apologise, with team boss Fred Vasseur then confirming that Hamilton had not pitted despite being asked to.

Hamilton apologises gain

While Hamilton couldn't speak immediately after the race to the media due to needing to visit the FIA medical centre, he has posted a message on Instagram, once again apologising for costing his Ferrari team valuable points.

"Yesterday wasn’t the result we were looking for, and that’s on me," he posted on Instagram.

"At a track that’s difficult to overtake you need to try something different, and I chose a strategy that ultimately didn’t deliver.

"It’s a painful lesson to learn, but I take full responsibility for the decisions I made. In this sport, not every call will work out. It’s about accepting when you get it wrong and how you move forward.

"I’m grateful to the team for the work they put in every weekend. P6 doesn’t reflect the pace we had in the car, and despite the result there are positives to take away.

"Massive thanks to the fans in Singapore for the energy. I’ll continue to put the work in and come back fighting at the next race."

Hamilton will be looking to get back on track at next weekend's United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (CoTA) where he has previously won five times and earned four more podiums.

It also offered him his best finishing position in his first season with Ferrari in 2025, taking fourth place.