Norris and Leclerc are seven tenths apart
Lewis Hamilton out of the virtual Q3 and George Russell into the wall at the end of FP2: these two snapshots capture a difficult Friday for Mercedes in Singapore during free practice at Marina Bay. The seven-time world champion underlined over the radio that he was experiencing problems especially in traction, while Russell instead ran into a block in the final long run, hitting the barriers and damaging his front wing. In addition to Red Bull, Mercedes is also having trouble in Singapore for now.
“We didn’t have the pace of the leaders and we have to work hard during the night to understand why. – said George Russell – the car didn’t feel like it did in 2023 on this track or the last few races. Looking at the data I’m sure we’ll find some answers. Looking at the standings, there were a lot of surprises. The Williams and Racing Bulls seemed particularly quick compared to the last few races, while the Red Bulls struggled. McLarens and Ferraris appear to have a comfortable lead over everyone else and we clearly need to work to have a chance of competing with them this weekend.”
“I didn’t feel comfortable in the car – added Lewis Hamilton – We tried different setup solutions to try to improve, but we couldn’t find a way. We worked hard as a team to gain and get closer to the pace of the leaders, but we couldn’t do it at the end of FP2. It was difficult to understand how to act on the setup. We need to find a bit more speed, otherwise we have a difficult Saturday ahead of us”.
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