The car has been notoriously tricky on bumpy circuits, and despite extensive resurfacing work on the track, teams expect to see some issues this weekend.
However, Russell believes Mercedes now have a better understanding of the car and Singapore will be a good test of it.
Asked what factors potentially worked for and against the team, Russell suggested the layout of the circuit would be favorable.
“I think the factors in favor are the high downforce setup, our car seems to work best with the highest downforce. [circuits]” he said, “[plus] our competitors, the fact that Red Bull is very, very efficient with their straight-line speed, and here it doesn’t have too much of an effect. Their advantage will therefore be less.
“But those who go against us are the bumps of this circuit. We clearly struggled with the street circuits this year in Monaco, Azerbaijan, Montreal. We have made a lot of progress in this regard.
“But it will be a sort of validation if the milestones we have taken on this race have translated into performance.
“I don’t think it will necessarily be the performance levels of Zandvoort/Budapest this weekend, but I’m pretty confident we’ll be more competitive than we saw at Monza and Spa.”
Russell says the team has also made progress in understanding how to get the most out of Pirelli tires in qualifying.
“That has definitely been our biggest challenge,” he said when asked by Autosport/Motorsport.com about the issue. “It is clear that on Saturday our performance fluctuations are significant. It’s probably the only element of our race car that we still have trouble mastering.
George Russell, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Alessio Morgese
“We probably have an understanding from the midfield teams why they seem to be more competitive than us on a Saturday and less on a Sunday, but comparing with Ferrari and Red Bull we still struggle to understand how they sometimes make a difference. so good work in qualifying, and we have a little more trouble.
“But every race is an opportunity for us to keep learning. And at the end of the day I think when we have a car that we as drivers have more confidence in it will also give us a few extra tenths which may just be that difference at the front of midfield to be in full combat with the front. pack.”
Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton acknowledged that historically Singapore has not been an easy place for Mercedes, especially when racing with its longer wheelbase designs.
“I would definitely say it’s a track that we struggled a lot on,” said the former world champion. “I don’t think it was aero based, I think it was probably more ride quality, that we just hadn’t been as good as some of the others had been.
“We’ll find out if it’s a real philosophy this weekend, or a real theory this weekend. I think they resurfaced on some parts of the circuit, so hopefully it’s not as bouncy as before.
Regarding the race outlook, he added: “We hope the car will perform better here. But like I said, it really depends on how bumpy it is. And the bumps often tripped the car and upset it in many cases.
“We know it’s going to be bumpy. Maybe the car will be fine. Maybe not. So I have no expectations, I’m just going to try to have the best weekend with everything we’re up against.
The car has been notoriously tricky on bumpy circuits, and despite extensive resurfacing work on the track, teams expect to see some issues this weekend.
However, Russell believes Mercedes now have a better understanding of the car and Singapore will be a good test of it.
Asked what factors potentially worked for and against the team, Russell suggested the layout of the circuit would be favorable.
“I think the factors in favor are the high downforce setup, our car seems to work best with the highest downforce. [circuits]” he said, “[plus] our competitors, the fact that Red Bull is very, very efficient with their straight-line speed, and here it doesn’t have too much of an effect. Their advantage will therefore be less.
“But those who go against us are the bumps of this circuit. We clearly struggled with the street circuits this year in Monaco, Azerbaijan, Montreal. We have made a lot of progress in this regard.
“But it will be a sort of validation if the milestones we have taken on this race have translated into performance.
“I don’t think it will necessarily be the performance levels of Zandvoort/Budapest this weekend, but I’m pretty confident we’ll be more competitive than we saw at Monza and Spa.”
Russell says the team has also made progress in understanding how to get the most out of Pirelli tires in qualifying.
“That has definitely been our biggest challenge,” he said when asked by Autosport/Motorsport.com about the issue. “It is clear that on Saturday our performance fluctuations are significant. It’s probably the only element of our race car that we still have trouble mastering.
George Russell, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Alessio Morgese
“We probably have an understanding from the midfield teams why they seem to be more competitive than us on a Saturday and less on a Sunday, but comparing with Ferrari and Red Bull we still struggle to understand how they sometimes make a difference. so good work in qualifying, and we have a little more trouble.
“But every race is an opportunity for us to keep learning. And at the end of the day I think when we have a car that we as drivers have more confidence in it will also give us a few extra tenths which may just be that difference at the front of midfield to be in full combat with the front. pack.”
Russell’s teammate Lewis Hamilton acknowledged that historically Singapore has not been an easy place for Mercedes, especially when racing with its longer wheelbase designs.
“I would definitely say it’s a track that we struggled a lot on,” said the former world champion. “I don’t think it was aero based, I think it was probably more ride quality, that we just hadn’t been as good as some of the others had been.
“We’ll find out if it’s a real philosophy this weekend, or a real theory this weekend. I think they resurfaced on some parts of the circuit, so hopefully it’s not as bouncy as before.
Regarding the race outlook, he added: “We hope the car will perform better here. But like I said, it really depends on how bumpy it is. And the bumps often tripped the car and upset it in many cases.
“We know it’s going to be bumpy. Maybe the car will be fine. Maybe not. So I have no expectations, I’m just going to try to have the best weekend with everything we’re up against.