Tough evening in the Lion City George Russell finished fourth and Lewis Hamilton sixth in Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix. Taking position on the second row, Lewis lined up on the Soft tyre in P3 with George on the Medium compound in P4. With track position so valuable in Singapore, the team opted for the Soft compound start to try and make opening lap gains. That proved the wrong decision though with Lewis limited on the red-walled compound by overheating in his opening stint and ultimately having to stop early. That enabled George and the McLaren of Oscar Piastri to overcut once everyone switched to the Hard compound. Piastri’s pace saw him come through to take P3 whilst the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc was able to put his pace and tyre advantage to use to first pass Lewis, then harry George in the closing stages. George was able to resist the Monegasque though and hold on to P4, whilst Lewis came home P6 on an evening where the team had the fourth quickest car. Driver Grid Result Fastest Lap Start Tyre Stop One George Russell P4 P4 1:37.047 Medium Hard (L27) Lewis Hamilton P3 P6 1:37.393 Soft Hard (L17) George Russell After a very difficult Friday, we would have likely taken P4 in the Grand Prix. Our pace in Qualifying however made us believe we could achieve more. Today was no doubt a difficult race for us, both challenging in terms of our pace but also physically. The McLarens were very impressive and in another league to us, whilst Max (Verstappen) had the legs on us. We were able to hold off the Ferrari of Charles (Leclerc) in the closing stages, so it was very much an evening of damage limitation. Given the pace of the car, that was the very best we could have achieved. We have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks to understand why we’ve struggled to challenge at the front in the past few races. We haven’t been as competitive since the summer break and that is frustrating. We will work hard to get on top of it though and hopefully the updates we bring to the next race in Austin will help us take a step closer to the front. Lewis Hamilton It is hard to describe the range of emotions you feel when we have a difficult race like that. This year continues to be a testing one for everyone, but we are all pushing as hard as we can. We don’t always get things right and that was the case today with our strategy. We all head into the weekend, and every decision we take, with the right intentions and sometimes it doesn’t work out. It can be frustrating, but we are all in this together. We have lost some form to the leaders in the past few races and we’re working hard to figure out why that is. We will do what we do best though and that is to come together as a team, analyse and refocus ahead of Austin. We will head there with energy, drive, and determination. It’s another opportunity to show what we can do when we get things right and to hopefully take a step forward with the car. Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO That was a really painful evening for us. P4 and P6 is not a good result after starting P3 and P4. Our strategy decisions in the race were determined by our experiences in the past here where track position is crucial. We thought that the Soft tyre would give Lewis an advantage at the start but that turned out to be the wrong decision. With our challenges managing the rear surfaces, we went backwards. Overtaking proved possible, contrary to previous races here where it has been more processional, and in hindsight we should have started him on the Medium. It doesn’t hide the fact though that we were too slow today. We are struggling at the moment with tracks that are hot and demanding on traction, like here and Baku, but that is no excuse. It is difficult for us to accept but we must do and find a way to improve. We now look ahead to Austin where we will have an update coming and we hope that will move us forward. Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director Our pace was ultimately poor today and that made for an incredibly challenging evening. Having qualified within a couple of tenths of Norris and Verstappen, we anticipated being able to race for the podium. That shaped our decision to start on the Soft compound with Lewis as we looked to make up ground on the opening lap. Unfortunately, with our lack of pace and struggles to control the rear tyre temperatures, that proved the incorrect decision and left him in for a tough race. It was very much a case of a defensive strategy and race for George. We had to pick our battles, and it was clear that we didn’t have the speed to be in a fight with the McLaren of Oscar Piastri. He was much faster and, with a tyre advantage, was always going to get through. George did well to hold off the hard-charging Ferrari of Leclerc and limit the damage. We’ve now got the opportunity over the next few weeks to analyse and understand what happened to our pace today. We had moments over the weekend where we were competitive, so we know there is inherent pace in the car. We will also be bringing an update package to the car at the next race and we hope that can bring us closer to the fight at the front.
