Mercedes close to the top
While Ferrari disappointed in qualifying under the artificial lights of Marina Bay, in Singapore they did the exact opposite. Mercedes with its all-British line-up. In a Q3 conditioned by the interruption in the early stages of the session due to Carlos Sainz’s accident, the drivers inevitably pushed hard in their only attempt to earn pole position. A goal achieved by Lando Norris just ahead of his title rival Max Verstappen, but with a second row entirely occupied by Brackley pilots.
Hamilton back in top 3
Come back to smile in this case Lewis Hamilton, 3rd and who had not achieved a top-4 result since the Belgian GP. A personal and team improvement underlined by the seven-time world champion, ever closer to concluding his story with the Anglo-German team before the expected transfer to Ferrari: “I worked very hard to improve my qualifying performance and to get back in front on Saturday. – explained #44 – Today the machine came to life and we had one of the best saturdays in a while. It was a great feeling. Having only one attempt in Q3 after the red flag was difficult, and maybe there was still a little more in the car, but overall I’m really grateful for what we achieved today. I also want to thank all the colleagues in the team. We moved with balance all weekend and they did a great job to get the car in a good position. Now We start from a solid position to fight for the podium tomorrow. We don’t know exactly what our race pace will be compared to the others, but with the changes made overnight we felt we were better than Friday. We’ll give it our all on Sunday.”
Fight for the podium: Hamilton is not the only one who believes in it
Satisfaction expressed not only by Hamilton, but also by his teammate George Russell, 4th and fresh from good performances in qualifying: “If yesterday they had told us that we would have qualified in the second row, we would have absolutely accepted. – he admitted – With the improvements we made overnight, though, and the way the car felt in FP3, I would have thought about it again. I felt very confident in the car and everything was coming easy. That feeling, however, left us in Q1 and I would have bitten my hand for P4. We struggled with the lack of grip and managed to advance in every segment until Q3. Once there, though, I managed to do a good lap and, overall, we can’t be disappointed with how we ended the day. Ultimately, we can consider today as a good recovery. Yesterday we were destined to be stuck in the midfield and instead here we are with a block on the second row. We would have liked to start further up the field, but the team did a great job to get us back on track, so a big thank you to them. Hopefully we can go on the attack tomorrow and fight for the podium.“.
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