As the Red Bulls faltered for the first time this season, Carlos Sainz made full use of the opportunity and claimed pole position in Singapore. However, while the Spaniard believes that Mercedes might hold an advantage over them come race day, Lewis Hamilton isn’t too optimistic about his chances on Sunday.
With Sainz and Leclerc claiming P1 and P3 respectively, George Russell managed to sneak in between them and claim his place in the front row. However, the other Mercedes fell behind and Hamilton only managed to get his car into P5, behind the McLaren of Lando Norris.
Good job by Lewis to take P5 on the grid for the #SingaporeGP. A strong position for tomorrow. 💪
Incredibly close margins out there. This race is not to be missed! 👀 pic.twitter.com/tnJRyXiLNZ
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 16, 2023
With Russell behind him, Sainz has already admitted that it might be tough for him to hold on to his lead as the Mercedes cars usually have a better race pace than the Ferraris. “Mercedes is normally a bit quicker than us come race day,” said the Spaniard, after the qualifying session.
Lewis Hamilton explains why he fell behind his teammate
Despite Sainz being wary of the Mercedes cars, Hamilton isn’t hopeful about coming away with a good result from the Singapore GP. Following the Qualifying session, he explained the exact reasons why he fell behind his teammate as well as the Ferraris when it mattered the most.
#SingaporeGP 🇸🇬: Lewis Hamilton post-quali: “Clearly we had a really great package here, the car was feeling incredible yesterday and it was so much hope that with some tweaks we’d be able to challenge the Ferraris – and obviously one of the cars was able to do that, and I…
— deni (@fiagirly) September 16, 2023
Hamilton explained that they had an incredible package throughout the weekend and were looking immensely fast. However, the team decided to make some final tweaks with the hope that it would be enough to take them past the Ferraris. However, it didn’t really seem to work out that way.
The seven time World Champion explained, “Made big changes overnight and, it’s just went away from me again… I was just so slow today.” Since the car is already in Parc Ferme, he won’t be able to reverse these changes and thus, isn’t too hopeful about the race.
Ferrari would be desperate for a win
Ferrari have carried over their form from Monza and with the Red Bull absent from the front for the first time this season, it is their race to lose as of now. As for Mercedes, they have shown immense improvements, but not enough to catch up with their rivals.
If Lewis Hamilton indeed manages to win the Singapore GP, it will not just be the first win for Mercedes this season, it will be Lewis Hamilton’s first win in 39 races. The British legend was winless last season, and as he edges towards the twilight of his career, he would be desperate to prove that he’s still not done.
