What the teams said – Qualifying at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix

Mercedes

Like Purple Bull, Mercedes managed a miraculous turnaround after a troublesome Friday. Hamilton stated Q3 wouldn’t be potential yesterday, and but he went on to seize third on the grid – his finest beginning slot since Silverstone. Russell backed him up with fourth, placing Mercedes in an incredible place for the race. And given they had been the quickest crew on the laborious compound tyre in race trim final weekend, and seemed robust right here within the Grand Prix final yr, Mercedes might be one to look at tomorrow.

Lewis Hamilton, third, 1:29.841

“I’ve been working actually laborious to enhance my qualifying performances and to get myself again up on the entrance on a Saturday. The automotive got here alive at present and we had one in every of our strongest Saturdays shortly. That was an incredible feeling. Having only one effort in Q3 after the purple flag was difficult, and there was maybe slightly bit extra left within the automotive, however total, I’m actually grateful for what we achieved at present.

“I additionally wish to say an enormous thanks to everybody within the storage. We’ve been transferring round on stability all weekend they usually’ve put in an enormous shift to get the automotive into a superb place. We at the moment are ranging from a stable place to battle for the rostrum tomorrow. We don’t know precisely the place our race tempo shall be in comparison with others, however with the adjustments we made in a single day, it felt like we had improved since Friday. We’ll be giving it every thing on Sunday.”

George Russell, 4th, 1:29.867

“When you had informed us yesterday that we might qualify on the second row of the grid, we might have completely taken that. With the enhancements we made in a single day although, and the way the automotive felt in FP3, I might have reconsidered. I used to be feeling tremendous assured within the automotive, and every thing was coming simply. That feeling abandoned us in Q1 although and I might have bitten your hand off for P4. We had been affected by a scarcity of grip and had been solely simply capable of progress by way of every section to Q3. I used to be capable of put in a good lap although as soon as we had been there and total, we are able to’t be disenchanted with the place we’ve got ended the day.

“We are able to finally see at present as a superb restoration. Yesterday, we had been on target to be mired within the midfield and but right here we’re with a second-row lock-out. We’d like to be beginning additional ahead however the crew has performed an incredible job to get us again on monitor so an enormous thanks to them. Hopefully we are able to go on the assault tomorrow and battle for the rostrum.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“After a troublesome Friday, we might have completely accepted, and been proud of, locking out the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. With the progress we made with the automotive in a single day although, and subsequent tempo we confirmed in FP3, P3 and P4 feels slightly underwhelming. With all that stated, it’s not a foul place to be beginning the race from.

“The fluctuations in efficiency throughout Friday and Saturday that has affected many groups has been unusual. Ferrari dropped again slightly at present while Max (Verstappen) took a step ahead, together with ourselves. I believe we’ll see extra of these fluctuations tomorrow, too. Hopefully the work we’ve performed to enhance the automotive from Friday can even translate into our race tempo and we are able to have a aggressive Sunday preventing for the rostrum.”

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

“After a difficult Friday, it’s satisfying to have each automobiles on the second row after a qualifying session the place it might have been simple to complete a lot additional down the order. Our groups again in Brackley and Brixworth did an incredible job in a single day to offer route for FP3, and as quickly as we hit the monitor, it was clear that each automobiles had been in a a lot happier place.

“Qualifying right here is at all times frantic – with quickly bettering monitor grip within the early levels and the potential jeopardy of yellow or purple flags. We had managed to maintain two units of latest Tender tyres for Q3, however Sainz’s accident and the following purple flag meant that we solely had one shot at it within the closing levels. Each Lewis and George did their quickest laps of the weekend to say the second row and set us up strongly for tomorrow. It’s at all times a demanding race right here in Singapore and managing the rear tyres shall be key tomorrow night. Security Automobiles can supply alternatives to offset or do one thing completely different, as we noticed final yr, and we shall be aiming to race for the rostrum and stable factors after some difficult Grands Prix because the summer time break.”