For almost two years, Ferrari has been told to soak up Lewis Hamilton’s widsom – and pin his many documents to the wall – in order to end its 20-year title drought.

Yet the way his Singapore Grand Prix strategy backfired – another sign of the lack of the declining trust between team and driver – revealed that Hamilton doesn’t have all the answers either.

Lewis Hamilton may be a great driver, not such a great organiser

A version of this article originally appeared in PlanetF1.com’s conclusions from the 2026 Singapore Grand Prix

Ever since Lewis Hamilton joined Ferrari at the start of 2025, a widespread misconception has taken hold and come to be treated as fact.

You see it all the time on social media and the comment sections and it goes something like this.

Because Lewis Hamilton has won seven world championships, and Ferrari hasn’t won any for the last two decades, the team simply must listen to him.

For if there is anyone in Formula 1 who knows how to win the title, it’s Lewis.

And to some extent, there is merit to that argument.

But only to an extent.

Because if you’re looking for advice on how to manage a set of tyres across the final 25 laps on a hot afternoon in Barcelona, Hamilton is your man.

And if the track is drying and you need someone with the touch and feel to make the transition from wets to slicks, with no need for a middle stop for intermediates, look no further than Lewis.

Nobody does it better.

But when it comes to the fundamentals of building a team? Of being an organiser?

Of having the personality, the people skills, the charisma to grab a team by the scruff of the neck and drag it up to standard?

Let’s be real: this is not Michael Schumacher or Jackie Stewart we’re talking about here.

Go deeper: In praise of Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton

Just because Hamilton is an enormously skilled driver – in many eyes the finest to ever grace a racing car – it does not automatically make him an effective team builder.

That was never within his remit at McLaren and Mercedes, where he was effectively the prized cog in an exceptionally well-oiled machine.

True, Ferrari in 2026 is not up to that level. Nowhere close. Which has perhaps inspired Hamilton to take on a role that does not come naturally to him.

Yet there is a distinction between being a key part of a successful team and being responsible for shaping one.

For all he has achieved in F1, the hands-on leadership role he has tried to embrace since joining Ferrari has been a new experience for him.

Often he seems merely to be playing the part of what he thinks – or, perhaps more to the point, has been led to believe – a successful Ferrari driver should be.

Little wonder, then, that the relationship between team and driver has been so uneasy at times.

Anyone else detect the lingering influence of that great busybody Sebastian Vettel here?

A regular source of advice to Hamilton before his move from Mercedes, Seb too tried to mould Ferrari in his image with limited success and without the means – or even the authority – to do so.

It is easy enough to point out the problems – and Hamilton has been very good at that over recent weeks – but offering the solutions?

Having criticised Ferrari’s decisions remorselessly since the summer break, it was almost refreshing to hear Hamilton hold up his hands – twice – on a weekend that fell short of its potential in Singapore.

First came his admission after sprint qualifying on Friday that his choice of run plan was the wrong one.

Then, after the chequered flag on Sunday, came an apology over team radio for a strategy that ultimately backfired.

“Sorry, boys,” he said. “I let you down today with that strategy. My call.”

It is true that Ferrari does not have all the answers.

But neither does he.