Friday: Mercedes acknowledges that reaching the front row will be complicated
After setting the fastest time in free practice 1, Mercedes' performance appeared to collapse compared to Red Bull. Both Mercedes drivers expect hard work to aim for the front row, while acknowledging that reaching it will be complicated.
Nico Rosberg – 4th and 3rd
« It’s great to be back in Singapore even though the conditions are incredibly hot outside, it’s a tough challenge for us drivers. We had a reasonable day but there’s still work to be done tonight since our competitors seem to be very fast once again. We will look into how to use the tires tonight and ensure we maximize their potential regarding overheating and degradation on long stints since there is no long straight here to cool the tires. »
Lewis Hamilton – 1st and 4th
It wasn’t the perfect Friday for us, but we completed our program and we know where we need to improve for tomorrow. The car’s balance seemed really good during free practice 1 but it definitely got lost for us this afternoon. There’s work to do tonight, but we’re used to that on Friday nights, and we’ll just move on and focus on our car and performance. It’s so difficult to overtake on this track that you want to qualify as high as possible and, of course, aim for the front row, but it’s going to be difficult. The track has really improved here without the chicane and turn number 10 seems to be a really better corner now.
