Lewis Hamilton has revealed he was “very angry” with Mercedes’ decision to start him on soft tyres at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton was the only driver in the top 10 and one of only two in the entire field to start the race on softs.

His rivals all opted for medium-durability tyres for the opening lap – a strategy Hamilton was keen to adopt.

“We had a meeting on the morning of the race, in fact the night before they mentioned they wanted to split the car,” Hamilton said at an event for Mercedes sponsor Petronas.

“I was a little bit confused by that. Because in the past, when we’ve been in that situation.

“Normally, if George qualifies like he usually does and I’m not in the top 10 or something, we’ll share strategies, but when we’re so close together, it doesn’t make any sense to me.

“So I was pushing hard to get on the mediums, but the team kept suggesting I start on the softs.

“And then when they took the tyre covers off, everyone was on mediums.”

Russell, who was also at the event, said: “When I saw that, I thought, ‘Lewis is not going to be happy…’”

Hamilton was passed by Russell in the latter stages of the race and finished sixth, his second-worst result at the Marina Bay circuit.

Hamilton added of his strategy: “I was so angry, I was frustrated from that moment on.”

“And then I was trying my best to catch up with the guys in front. They were so fast.

“And then I tried to keep the tyres alive as long as possible and I had to stop on Lap 17.

“I knew from that moment that the race was over for me, because the hard tyres were going to be a tough test in that heat.

“And we were struggling with the balance of the car all weekend, so we changed a lot of different things. We had a good qualifying, but unfortunately the race was too difficult for us.”