Hamilton puzzled over timing of first pit stop

Lewis Hamilton's race weekend in Singapore ended pretty much where it started with the defending world champion enduring a difficult Sunday which resulted in a third place finish.

Hamilton also conceded the lead in the championship and now trails team mate Nico Rosberg by 8 points.

Following a frustrated time in the early part of the evening as he battled with his tyres and brakes, the Brit found himself under pressure from Raikkonen during his second stint on the Soft Pirelli compound.

The Ferrari actually managed to pass the Mercedes for third before the German outfit's pitwall eventually switched its driver to 'Plan B'.

A decision which effectively meant a three-stop race which saw Hamilton's performance finally move up a notch and bring him back up on the podium.

"First of all, big congratulations to Nico, he drove fantastically all weekend and fully deserved the win," Hamilton conceded on the podium.

"It was very tough day, as always in Singapore. This weekend has just been a bit of a tricky one for me but I'm still glad that I could get back on the podium and get some points for the team."

Hamilton pitted for the first time on lap 16 at the same time as Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, a strategy call which left the Mercedes driver clearly confused.

"The first stop, we extended the tyres as we were supposed to go to lap 11 and we ended up on lap 14, and then they pitted on the same lap as Daniel which didn't make sense to me.

"That was a bit of a missed opportunity there, but I had such problems with my brakes I wouldn't have been able to beat Daniel anyway."

Indeed, Hamilton suffered early on, as did Rosberg, with excessive brake temperatures. But once Mercedes decided to bring its driver in for a third time, and slightly boosted the performance of his power unit, Hamilton's race finally came alive, enabling him to recoup a spot on the podium.

"I was struggling with the brakes and just had to slow down and just watch the other guys pull away.

"Part of [the improved pace] was the fresh tyres but, mostly, because the car gets lighter, the brakes are easier to control.

"Once the overheating reduced, I was then able to pick up the pace. I was still getting warnings to the end but, the last ten laps, I just let them continue flashing as a warning and hoped for the best. "

As he finds himself once chasing his team mate in the championship, Hamilton said that with six races to go it was still early days in the title fight.

"The championship situation is a lot different to when I was here last year but, all in all, with everything that has gone on this year, I'm still in the fight and there's a long way to go.

"We've come from 43 points down [this season], so eight points isn't anything near as steep as that. Nico has done an amazing job [this weekend], and I expect him to continue like that, so I've just got to make sure that I do the same."

Rosberg holds on to take title lead after Singapore thriller

Breakfast with ... Bernd Maylander