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

Mercedes

It was a quiet opening to the weekend for Mercedes, who had each drivers down the order and neither sounding overly proud of how their automotive felt straight out of the field. These complaints intensified in FP2, Hamilton specifically sad with the quantity of understeer he was experiencing. Russell at the very least grabbed a spot within the prime 10, however he locked up late on and went straight into the wall, breaking his entrance wing however fortunate to flee with out extra severe harm.

Lewis Hamilton – FP1: 1:32.679, P12; FP2: 1:31.709, P11

“It was a really difficult day for us. I didn’t really feel notably related with the automotive all through. We tried many alternative issues on the set-up to attempt to discover enhancements however couldn’t discover any main breakthrough. We have been working onerous as a crew to make positive factors and get nearer to the tempo on the entrance, however we weren’t in a position to take action by the tip of FP2. It was difficult to know precisely the place we should always put the automotive by way of set-up and that’s one thing we will probably be working onerous on in a single day. We have to discover some extra pace in any other case we will probably be taking a look at a tough Saturday tomorrow.”

‘Nothing seems to work’ – Hamilton predicts he ‘won’t be going into Q3’ after ‘difficult’ Singapore practice

George Russell – FP1: 1:33.334, P16; FP2: 1:31.488, P7

“That was fairly a difficult Friday for us. We didn’t have the tempo of the frontrunners right now and we have to work onerous in a single day to know why. The automotive wasn’t feeling as nicely related because it did right here final 12 months, or in latest races. We have to unravel that if we’re to have a weekend the place we are able to problem on the entrance. I’m certain we’ll discover some solutions although as soon as we undergo all the information this night.

“There have been quite a lot of surprises on the market if you appeared on the timing screens. Williams and VCARB appeared to be notably fast in comparison with latest races, while the Pink Bulls struggling a bit. The McLarens and the Ferraris appeared to have a cushty benefit over everybody else in the meantime and we’ve clearly bought work on our fingers to be in with an opportunity of racing them this weekend.”

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

“That was one of many trickier Friday’s of the 12 months to this point. We experimented with totally different set-ups throughout the vehicles in FP1, aiming to attempt to counter a few of the challenges we’d confronted notably on our Medium tyre stint final weekend in Baku. Sadly, the monitor circumstances didn’t give us an excellent learn on this, so we converged extra intently for FP2. Neither driver was notably proud of the stability all through the session, though we made some progress on our future.

“While that second hour of operating was extra encouraging, we’ve nonetheless bought an excellent chunk of labor to do in a single day. McLaren and Ferrari, specifically Norris and Leclerc, a step forward of the remainder of the sphere. We should discover some huge enhancements to be within the combat with them tomorrow. We’ve additionally bought one eye on a few of the groups behind us. We might want to discover positive factors in a single day if we’re to have a smoother run by means of qualifying and that’s what we’re targeted on doing.”