Lewis Hamilton's Singapore Grand Prix collapse wasn't really a shock to Jean Alesi. The former Ferrari driver has slammed the seven-time world champion for ignoring his team's pit wall calls during a crucial virtual safety car period that could've saved his race. Hamilton stuck with a single set of soft tyres for 40 laps at Marina Bay, eventually limping home in sixth place after running in podium positions for most of the afternoon. It was a brutal lesson in strategy gambles that simply didn't pay off.

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Alesi reckons the whole thing was inevitable given Hamilton's recent track record of questioning Ferrari's decisions. Writing in his Corriere della Sera column, the Frenchman made it clear he felt no sympathy for the mistake. "It's a shame Hamilton didn't listen to the pit wall," Alesi said. "Something like this was bound to happen, considering Lewis has been complaining for a while now, questioning the team's work." Coming from someone who knows a thing or two about driving for the Prancing Horse, that's pretty cutting criticism.

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What softened the blow slightly for Ferrari fans was the actual pace of Charles Leclerc and the SF-26. The Monegasque driver claimed second place, finishing just over seven seconds behind Max Verstappen's Red Bull, which gave the Tifosi something genuinely encouraging to take into 2027. Alesi was impressed by Ferrari's competitiveness from Friday onwards and believes the development direction is spot on. "The SF-26 was competitive in Singapore right from Friday, which reassures the fans as we look ahead to next year," he noted. "I think the development work is progressing in the right direction."

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Hamilton himself owned the disaster on social media, posting an apology that made it crystal clear he takes full responsibility. The Ferrari driver admitted the strategy gamble simply didn't work out and acknowledged that in a track like Singapore where overtaking is incredibly difficult, he needed to try something different. He thanked the team for their efforts while accepting that sixth place definitely didn't reflect the car's true potential. It was a humble admission from someone used to getting these calls right.

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