The tight Marina Bay circuit offered Mercedes the chance to have one of its best weekends, with its W13 car showing up best in low and medium speed corners.
But although Hamilton led the way in Friday night’s opening free practice and team-mate George Russell was third in the second session, the seven-time champion was disappointed the German automaker was fighting for pole position. .
Instead, having finished fifth fastest in FP2, he felt it was a more realistic indicator of where the team was at, with W13 again suffering from extreme rebounds.
Reflecting on the first day of action, Hamilton said: “It started well, it wasn’t as good in the second session. So pretty much like every other weekend, I would say.
“The car is as it is and bouncing like crazy. It doesn’t look like we’re massively down here this weekend, but we’re probably still a second down I would say, something like that. We we just have to keep working on it.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images
Hamilton felt there was little Mercedes could do to iron out the rebound – which he said had given him a headache – as he suggested his setup hadn’t been as good as team-mate Russell.
“We can’t really do much with the rebound. It’s just like that,” he said. “In terms of setup, I think George was able to find a bit more time. I think there’s definitely more time on my side, and I just didn’t have a good lap.
“I think with the setup I had a lot of lockdown, but we’ll fix it tonight and come back and have a better try tomorrow.”
Russell agreed with Hamilton that while the positions look fine compared to their rivals, the true picture has left Mercedes a bit further back.
“I have to go through and look at the data because I think Charles had his fastest lap on the medium tyre,” he said. “I don’t know where the Red Bull drivers were. So on paper it looks good, but I’m pretty confident that’s not all.
He added: “There is certainly a lot of work to be done. It’s very, very bumpy out there. I think everyone struggles to some degree, but we always knew that was a bit of a weak point in our car.
“The tires are quite sensitive. I think it will be one of those that if we can absolutely pull it off, there will be a tremendous amount of lap time that we can find in qualifying. And, as we know, it’s normally a qualifying race. But yes, we will remain optimistic and work harder overnight.
The tight Marina Bay circuit offered Mercedes the chance to have one of its best weekends, with its W13 car showing up best in low and medium speed corners.
But although Hamilton led the way in Friday night’s opening free practice and team-mate George Russell was third in the second session, the seven-time champion was disappointed the German automaker was fighting for pole position. .
Instead, having finished fifth fastest in FP2, he felt it was a more realistic indicator of where the team was at, with W13 again suffering from extreme rebounds.
Reflecting on the first day of action, Hamilton said: “It started well, it wasn’t as good in the second session. So pretty much like every other weekend, I would say.
“The car is as it is and bouncing like crazy. It doesn’t look like we’re massively down here this weekend, but we’re probably still a second down I would say, something like that. We we just have to keep working on it.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Lionel Ng / Motorsport Images
Hamilton felt there was little Mercedes could do to iron out the rebound – which he said had given him a headache – as he suggested his setup hadn’t been as good as team-mate Russell.
“We can’t really do much with the rebound. It’s just like that,” he said. “In terms of setup, I think George was able to find a bit more time. I think there’s definitely more time on my side, and I just didn’t have a good lap.
“I think with the setup I had a lot of lockdown, but we’ll fix it tonight and come back and have a better try tomorrow.”
Russell agreed with Hamilton that while the positions look fine compared to their rivals, the true picture has left Mercedes a bit further back.
“I have to go through and look at the data because I think Charles had his fastest lap on the medium tyre,” he said. “I don’t know where the Red Bull drivers were. So on paper it looks good, but I’m pretty confident that’s not all.
He added: “There is certainly a lot of work to be done. It’s very, very bumpy out there. I think everyone struggles to some degree, but we always knew that was a bit of a weak point in our car.
“The tires are quite sensitive. I think it will be one of those that if we can absolutely pull it off, there will be a tremendous amount of lap time that we can find in qualifying. And, as we know, it’s normally a qualifying race. But yes, we will remain optimistic and work harder overnight.