Lewis Hamilton struggled all the way through the practice sessions at the Singapore GP. The Briton complained about the front end not biting into the tarmac and massive understeer induced by the setup. The team made changes before the qualifying that seemingly worked. However, Hamilton believes that the changes will cause the W15 to behave differently in race conditions.
Speaking with the media after the Singapore GP qualifying, Hamilton said, “It will be different tomorrow. It’s been different every time we’ve been out this weekend. We’ve changed so much. We’ve been left right up and down, all over but I think now that it’s working better, it is a much better platform.”
Sir Lewis Hamilton expecting the car to behave differently on race day after all the changes they have made, audio interview with BBC :#F1 || #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/eUarqeAcaW
— sim (@sim3744) September 22, 2024
The Briton feels that they will have to put the car in the right window to maximize their performance. The Mercedes’ race pace has been generally good at all tracks. Still, Hamilton knows that the conditions and the setup of the car have made their performance a lot more volatile, as was evident last week in Baku.
Hamilton will start the race in P3, just behind Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. In the post-qualifying interview, the seven-time champion mentioned that it was the first time in the W15 that he felt connected to the car in a long time. Mercedes made setup changes to give the car an oversteering setup.
However, a setup that prioritizes the front-end turning often comes at the cost of the rear tires slipping and sliding. An oversteering setup will affect the rear tires even more with a full tank. This is arguably the reason why Hamilton is concerned.
The Briton aims to follow the top two around and grab any opportunity that presents itself. However, with the concern over the setup, he might end up falling back, given that the two Ferraris are starting behind him.
Hamilton and Russell were trying different setups
Nico Rosberg caught up with Toto Wolff after the FP3 session and questioned why Hamilton was eight-tenths off Russell’s pace on the qualifying simulation laps. Wolff stated that the two are on partially different setups, with both trying different things.
However, the tables turned in qualifying with Hamilton out-qualifying Russell. However, the #63 driver starts just behind Hamilton in P4. After the qualifying session, none of the Mercedes members revealed if Hamilton was given the same setup as Russell from FP3.
Regardless, whatever Mercedes did seemed to work well on the car to help lock out the second row. The jumbled-up grid with a few cars out of position will make for an interesting race in Marina Bay.
