Lewis Hamilton Penalized After Dramatic End To Singapore Grand Prix

The seven-time champion had fallen behind teammate Charles Leclerc at the start of the race and spent much of the 62 laps behind the Monegasque and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.

With a 50-second gap behind him in the final third of the race, Hamilton was pitted for a second time onto the soft tires to try and effect a change to the order. That ploy initially worked as he quickly regained the time lost on pitlane and, having been let through by Leclerc by virtue of Ferrari team orders, he quickly set off to close in on Antonelli.

It looked as though Hamilton would take third given the pace advantage he had over the Italian rookie, who was approaching 40 laps on his hard tires, but drama then struck. Hamilton suffered a brake failure with sparks flying from his left-front wheel, leaving him to try and fight the defect and coast to the flag to secure points.

While he was able to do so and keep Alonso behind on the track, he ran off-track on multiple occasions and thus caught the attention of the stewards.

Stewards explain decision

Following an investigation post-race, a report from the stewards read: "During the hearing, the driver confirmed that he left the track at several occasions.

"He was trying to manage a brakes issue situation. This being said, after further investigation, and in accordance with the list of exemptions foreseen in the Driving Standards Guidelines, the Stewards considered that this was not a justifiable reason and apply the usual penalty for such type of infringement.

"This was not contested by the team representative nor the driver."

Leclerc was also struggling with brake wear in the intense heat and humidity experience in Singapore, with the circuit layout - populated with a high corner count - only adding to the difficulty in managing components.

But Hamilton's late-race pace on softer rubber meant he was managing the brakes less, ultimately explaining why he was struck with the failure and not his teammate.

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