After the first two practice sessions in Singapore, it wasn’t good news for Mercedes, as neither of their drivers was able to crack into the top five on Friday. Dejected by the runnings, Lewis Hamilton stood in front of the media and admitted to his team being lost in their way.
FP1 in Singapore saw Hamilton finish P12, while the following session saw him improve a spot. Having won the Singapore GP four times in the past, the 39-year-old looks far from increasing his tally this weekend. The Briton admitted that the Mercedes W15 made it a difficult day of practice for both drivers.
Furthermore, Hamilton claimed his team had lost their way and did not have an idea about how to set their car up around the Marina Bay street track.
“I think in the end we just lost our way a bit and didn’t really know how to set up the car.”, he said as quoted by Formule1.nl.
George Russell did not have a great running on Friday either. But he fared slightly better than his teammate during FP2. Having finished P16 in FP1, he showed considerable improvement to secure P7 in the evening session. However, it ended on a sour note for the 26-year-old, as he ended up crashing his car.
George Russell complained about his car’s lack of pace after crashing into the wall during P2, while Lewis Hamilton isn’t confident of making Q3 during qualifying in Singapore pic.twitter.com/23mio6oEUN
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 20, 2024
Talking to the media after the session, Russell also agreed with Hamilton’s comments. The car was off the pace during both sessions. Still, the Mercedes driver remained hopeful that his team would be able to fix the issue overnight.
Meanwhile, McLaren and Ferrari continue to fight for bragging rights in Singapore. Having come off an enthralling battle in Baku, both teams’ drivers were at it again. While Charles Leclerc topped FP1 with Lando Norris in P2, the result in FP2 saw the positions exchanged.
Thus, Mercedes has their work cut out for Saturday’s qualifying. During FP3, they seem to have improved a bit. Hamilton commented on the radio about the car being much better than Friday. With Russell finishing second, the Silver Arrows will bank on the positives of this session to challenge McLaren and Ferrari for pole and the win on Sunday.
