Lewis Hamilton ‘lost’ as he and George Russell share Singapore Grand Prix concerns

Lewis Hamilton ‘lost’ as he and George Russell express fears for Singapore Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell struggled for pace in Friday’s Singapore Grand Prix practice sessions.

Lewis Hamilton acknowledged Mercedes are ‘lost’ after FP2, ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton has conceded that Mercedes is “lost” after he and George Russell struggled for pace in two practice sessions on Friday ahead of Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix. Hamilton was about a second slower than Lando Norris in FP2, but the McLaren driver had the fastest lap of the day.

Mercedes’ fortunes have improved this year following two poor seasons on the track, with Hamilton winning two Grands Prix in July after Russell finished first in Austria at the end of June.

However, Mercedes remains fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, with McLaren ahead of Red Bull and Ferrari.

Hamilton finished FP2 in Singapore with the 11th fastest lap, while Russell was ninth until colliding with a wall at Turn 8 late in the session.

After the second session, the seven-time world champion told Sky Sports that the Ferrari seemed… It feels pretty… It’s quite difficult. It was an extremely tough day. We tried everything setup-wise, but nothing seems to work.

“Definitely incredibly tough; we really gave it our all, and then you find out you’re a second off. I guess we’re just a little disoriented and don’t know where to park the car. We tried a lot and got the same results.”

Hamilton was then asked where Mercedes could finish in qualifying on Saturday, and he responded, “At the moment, I won’t be going into Q3.”

Russell, meanwhile, was asked about his day in the Mercedes and said: “It was a really hard Friday for us – we were really off the pace today.

“We need to figure out why it is. “I’m confident we’ll find answers tonight.”We made some significant changes from FP1 to FP2, but the vehicle does not seem as linked as it did this time last year or in recent races. So we need to get to the bottom of it.

“We’re obviously trying to [make a significant improvement in qualifying]. There are plenty of surprises out there.

“The Red Bull was seeming to be off the pace and there seems to be a big gap to the McLarens and the Ferraris so as a minimum we hope to be between that midfield gap and that front four, but right now we’ve got a lot of work on our hands.”