The 2023 Singapore Grand Prix has finally arrived, and quite unsurprisingly, Formula 1 is all set to witness one of the most unpredictable race weekends of this season, thanks to the latest FIA technical directive. Mercedes F1 boss, Toto Wolff, recently opined that Red Bull might just tumble down the pecking order, leaving the Brackley outfit with a glorious opportunity to return to their winning ways.
True to Wolff’s expectations, it almost seemed like Red Bull might lose their plot for the first time, leaving the top spot unguarded for rivals, including Lewis Hamilton to break into. Much like his team, the seven-time world champion, too, has been in the midst of a rather shocking winless streak, and the impending Singapore GP was tipped to end it once and for all.
Unfortunately, despite the odds clearly favoring Hamilton, the reality has been almost entirely contrasting. Following Friday’s practice sessions, the Mercedes driver ended up realizing that he was nowhere near his rivals. And what’s more painful is that the deficit isn’t marginal.
Lewis Hamilton trapped in the mid-field at Singapore Grand Prix?
According to Hamilton’s race engineer, the Briton was nearly 0.8 seconds slower than the fastest driver, Charles Leclerc, during the practice runs on Friday. Hence, not only are Mercedes trapped behind the raging bulls, but now also behind Ferrari and maybe even Aston Martin by the looks of it. Here’s how Hamilton reacted to the huge pace deficit.
The Briton started the radio conversation with ‘Bono’ with a single-worded question, “Sectors?” The race engineer replied, “It’s 2.5 for sector 1, 4.5 in the middle. It’s just half a tenth in the final. That is to Leclerc.” Of course, Hamilton was anything but happy with the numbers he was hearing, and said, “That’s 8 tenths. Where’s that come from?”
📻 | Lewis Hamilton: “Sectors?”
📻 | Bono: “It’s 2.5 for sector 1, 4.5 in the middle. It’s just half a tenth in the final. That is to Leclerc.”
📻 | Lewis Hamilton: “That’s 8 tenths. Where’s that come from?”
— deni (@fiagirly) September 15, 2023
Now, here’s what Wolff was hoping for ahead of the weekend. “It’s going to be interesting. I think with the Aston Martin you’ve seen that they made a step backwards with their wing moving less, but I don’t know the details. Let’s wait and see. I don’t know who is exploiting them to a bigger degree than others, but it’s maybe Red Bull [if it] is half a second slower suddenly. That would be nice, but I don’t think that will be the case,” he said.
Therefore, can Hamilton and Co. spur a miraculous comeback to defeat Ferrari and Red Bull, heading into the crucial part of the weekend?
