“You Guys Have Got to Fix This”: Lewis Hamilton Flags Issue in Car That Can Ruin Singapore GP

At the start of the 2024 F1 season, Mercedes looked set to have yet another disappointing campaign. However, upgrades introduced during the Canadian Grand Prix suddenly turned the team’s fortunes around and the Silver Arrows soon started winning. They registered three victories before the summer break. However, since the summer break, the team has again gone backward in terms of the overall performance of the W15.

And it has looked especially difficult for Lewis Hamilton who has had the best finish of P5 since his victory in Belgium. The Singapore Grand Prix could turn out to be another difficult weekend for the 39-year-old as he has hinted at a concern about the balance of his car during the first Free Practice session, a session he only managed to finish 12th.

However, a few minutes before the end of the session, he came on the team radio and complained about facing excessive wheel spin even when he was being gentle with the throttle. “I’m trying to reduce the traction metrics. You guys have got to fix this. I’m being as soft as I can,” said Hamilton as quoted on the Sky Sports Live coverage of the session.

Carlos Sainz was also unhappy with his SF-24

Hamilton wasn’t the only driver who was complaining about the car over his team radio in FP1. Despite finishing in P3 behind his teammate Charles Leclerc and the McLaren of Lando Norris, Sainz seemed unhappy with his Ferrari and complained about the brakes of his car.

He did not like how the team had changed the brake balance on his car coming to the Marina Bay Circuit. “We need to sort out the brakes. It cannot be that we changed the brake balance so much,” Sainz said on the team radio.

The Marina Bay Circuit is one of the strongest tracks for Hamilton. Back in 2018, he pulled out one of the most sensational qualifying laps in the history of Formula 1. On that occasion, he was almost a whopping 1.5 seconds quicker than his nearest rival.