Fortuitous podium in Baku
There Mercedes was not a protagonist in Baku, but in the end George Russell still got a podium thanks to Max Verstappen’s bad Sunday, Lando Norris forced to come back and – above all – the contact that ousted Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez two laps from the checkered flag. Now the focus is immediately on the Singapore stage where a year ago Mercedes tried to liven up the race at the end by making an extra stop with Russell and Hamilton to allow them to charge Sainz and Norris with a considerable advantage in tyres. The tactic did not have the desired effect with Russell also ending up in the wall on the last lap.
Toto Wolff He framed the Marina Bay event like this: “We will take the lessons learned from Baku and aim to improve our performance in Singapore. We also had flashes of high competitiveness in Azerbaijan, but we were too limited by issues related to tyre temperature management. When the car works, we have the pace to be competitive, although we are aware that third place was fortuitous and that we would have finished fifth without that episode.”
For Mercedes there will be an extra incentive to perform well, celebrate the 50th anniversary of sponsor Petronas: “Singapore has become a key race for our technical partner Petronas as the closest event to Malaysia. We are thrilled to be part of their 50th anniversary celebrations this year” added Wolff who is confident in the qualities of the oil giant with a view to 2026 when racing will be carried out with 100% sustainable fuels.
#Mercedes #Singapore #extra #push #Petronas
