The Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton decided to skip their post-race media duties after the 2024 Singapore GP. The team explained that their drivers had suffered immense exhaustion after the 62-lap race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Now, Hamilton has revealed what worsened his condition in the cockpit of the W15.
In a video doing the rounds of X (formerly Twitter), the #44 driver explained how he really wanted to drink water during the race. Mainly because the Singapore GP is often run under sweltering conditions and high humidity. This means that the drivers feel a lot of heat inside the cockpit and lose a lot of hydration.
However, a fault with his drinking system in the car meant the Mercedes man went without any fluids throughout the race. Hamilton said, “I haven’t drunk once this year, but this weekend, I wanted to, and it didn’t work. I was so thirsty.”
“I never drink in the race, hardly ever. […] I forget to do it, so sometimes I have Bono remind me through the race, but very rarely. I haven’t drunk once this year, but this weekend, I wanted to, and it didn’t work. I was so thirsty.” poor Lewis#SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/9RruxjVDRr
— Sir Lewis Updates (@LH44updates) September 24, 2024
This situation was eerily similar to what Kimi Raikkonen once faced at the 2018 Hungarian GP. The Finnish driver repeatedly asked his race engineer whether his drinking tube was connected to the bottle or not.
As the Ferrari crew had forgotten to connect it, the engineer tried to explain the same, much to Raikkonen’s confusion. What followed was a hilarious exchange and the infamous radio message, “No, Kimi, you will not have the drink”.
As for the seven-time world champion, he stated that he hardly drinks water during any other race. At times, his engineer Peter Bonnington reminds him to drink. But the demanding conditions of the Singapore GP pushed him as well to give up his habit of not drinking.
Why is the Singapore GP so taxing for the drivers?
Hamilton’s plight after the Grand Prix was similar to what almost all drivers faced after the race. During the post-race interview, David Coulthard even poured water over Lando Norris’ head to relieve the Briton a bit. Many other drivers like Fernando Alonso and Franco Colapinto were exhausted and dehydrated after the event.
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This boils down to the unique challenge that the Marina Bay Street Circuit has to offer. Firstly, the track layout consists of shorter straights and a more complex series of corners. This means that drivers pull higher g-forces consistently.
To add to this, the humidity last weekend reached a peak of 70% and the temperatures were within the window of 30-32°C. Normally, the Singapore GP sees drivers lose up to 3-4 kgs of body weight due to loss of sweat and dehydration.
Russell had even admitted that he had to undergo a grueling month-long preparation — specifically for the Singapore GP. Despite that, the Briton opted out of the media duties owing to immense exhaustion after the race.
