When the lights go out Sunday for the Singapore Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will be right beside each other. The Mercedes duo locked out the second row during Saturday’s qualifying session, with Hamilton qualifying third and Russell finishing fourth.
Depending on which team member you talk to — and when you talked to them — that was either an underwhelming result or something they absolutely would have dreamed of earlier this week.
Russell in particular highlighted those highs and lows in the team’s post-qualifying report.
“If you had told us yesterday that we would qualify on the second row of the grid, we would have absolutely taken that. With the improvements we made overnight though, and how the car felt in FP3, I would have reconsidered,” began Russell.
“I was feeling super confident in the car, and everything was coming easily. That feeling deserted us in Q1 though and I would have bitten your hand off for P4,” continued Russell. “We were suffering from a lack of grip and were only just able to progress through each segment to Q3. I was able to put in a decent lap though once we were there and overall, we can’t be disappointed with where we have ended the day.”
During the first segment of qualifying Russell sounded almost panicked regarding the tires on the W15, as he struggled to find any grip on the circuit. But when Q3 came to a close there he was, up in P4.
Struggles at Ferrari may have played a role, as Carlos Sainz Jr.’s hard shunt at the start of Q3 brought his qualifying to an end and the red flag out on the track. When qualifying resumed each driver had enough time for one lap, and Charles Leclerc saw his effort deleted for exceeding track limits.
As for Hamilton, he qualified third, a result he hailed given his qualifying struggles this season.
“I’ve been working really hard to improve my qualifying performances and to get myself back up at the front on a Saturday. The car came alive today and we had one of our strongest Saturdays in a while,” said Hamilton in the team’s report. “That was a great feeling. Having just one effort in Q3 after the red flag was tricky, and there was perhaps a little bit more left in the car, but overall, I am really grateful for what we achieved today.”
Hamilton elaborated on how satisfying the result was in the FIA Press Conference after the qualifying session.
“I mean, just to be up here with these guys [pole-sitter Lando Norris and Max Verstappen], great drivers. I’ve not been up here for a while and yeah, qualifying has been a nightmare for quite a long time,” said Hamilton after the session. “So it feels great to be up here. I feel very, very grateful and very, very happy. And I think hopefully from here, George and I are in the second row, so hopefully from here we can apply pressure to these two and to even to be ahead of another McLaren and another Red Bull and also the Ferraris is mega, considering how fast the Ferraris particularly are here. So yeah, I hope that we can hold on to these guys tomorrow.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff echoed the thoughts of an up-and-down weekend so far for the team.
“After a difficult Friday, we would have absolutely accepted, and been happy with, locking out the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. With the progress we made with the car overnight though, and subsequent pace we showed in FP3, P3 and P4 feels a little underwhelming,” described Wolff. “With all that said, it is not a bad place to be starting the race from.”
The Mercedes boss expects even more “fluctuations” in the race itself.
“The fluctuations in performance across Friday and Saturday that has affected many teams has been strange,” said Wolff. “Ferrari dropped back a little today whilst Max [Verstappen] took a step forward, along with ourselves.
“I suspect we will see more of those fluctuations tomorrow, too. Hopefully the work we’ve done to improve the car from Friday will also translate into our race pace and we can have a competitive Sunday fighting for the podium.”
