A Friday on the road to redemption for Mercedes, beyond the small troubles

Toto Wolff and his team certainly breathed a sigh of relief this evening after reading the data from today’s two free practice sessions. After a disastrous 2015 weekend, the 2016 edition opens with much better hopes for the Brackley team. Despite the issues mentioned above, Mercedes is set to at least fight with Red Bull and Ferrari for pole position in qualifying.

A much more comfortable Rosberg during the second session

FP1: 5th -> 1:46.513 (22 Laps); FP2: 1st -> 1:44.152 (34 Laps)

Regular since the start of the season, the future double centurion in terms of Grand Prix appearances had a scare in FP1 in Singapore, by missing the eighteenth turn of the circuit, with that sharp left-hand turn before the small tunnel. Fortunately for him, the first session was nearing its end with less than 10 minutes remaining.

His second session was more exciting, with his taking control after his very good use of the ultra-soft tires. However, despite the three-tenths lead over his nearest competitor, the driver refused to clearly take on the role of the favorite.

It was a very solid start to the weekend, definitely better than last year. The first session was okay until I hit the wall at turn 18. It wasn’t ideal – but fortunately, the impact wasn’t strong, so I was able to bring the car back to the garage for repairs. The second session went better, but we still have room for improvement. It was really tight with Red Bull and Ferrari – closer than on other tracks clearly – but it promises a great battle. I’m excited to be a part of it!

Even if we think we have a better handle on the situation, it will be very difficult. We need to focus on ourselves and maximize our chances of success. For sure, the track is one of the best for Red Bull and Ferrari!

Hamilton: Our pace is much better than last year.

FP1: 4th -> 1:46.426 (24 Laps); FP2: 7th -> 1:45.275 (10 Laps)

For his part, Lewis Hamilton downplayed the importance of his hydraulic problem encountered shortly after the middle of the second free practice session. The three-time world champion was the fastest on super-soft tires, but this complicated end to the session dropped him to seventh position. This difficulty thus did not allow him to discover the full potential of his car.

« Two relatively good sessions today. We had a small hydraulic problem at the end of FP2 but it wasn’t too serious. The guys solved the problem well and my car will be ready for Saturday. Our pace on track was satisfactory. We are apparently better than last year so we expect to be relatively strong. »

Of course, the former McLaren driver hopes not to experience a repeat of the 2015 disaster.

« We had a very poor operating window last year, this year, everything seems to be completely different.

I hope that we will continue to improve and that we will be in the battle for the front line, and for the race victory.

Moreover, the two-time winner on the streets of Singapore (in 2009 with McLaren and in 2014 for Mercedes) shared his feelings about his first laps with the halo. It doesn’t seem to have affected him much:

« Driving with the halo didn’t pose any real problems for me. »

However, the three-time world champion was one of the first to criticize its appearance. Among the last drivers to try it in official testing, Hamilton now thinks that this system would be interesting.

Except for getting into the car, I didn’t find much change. It slightly blocked my view in my rearview mirrors at the level of my rear wing, but otherwise, I hardly noticed it. I could have raced with that this weekend without any problems!

Casual, the 31-year-old driver even made a good pun about this famous “Halo,” here with a famous single by American singer Beyoncé!

.@Beyonce wrote a song about this once I think 😂 😇 #SingaporeGP #TeamLH #Halo @MercedesAMGF1 📸 x @suttonimages pic.twitter.com/NZcPuCyUxo

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) 16 septembre 2016