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Former F1 champion Damon Hill has detailed a major issue Mercedes could face during this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix. The bumpy track is already rumored to not possibly be suiting the team at all.
On F1's official podcast, Hill explained exactly what the Singapore track is like. He listed the pointers that could impact Mercedes' race night, saying:
“Seems to me their problem is they’re too easy on the tires. So it depends on what tires they bring and of course, it’s a track that doesn’t get hotter, it gets cooler. So the sun goes down, so the track temperature starts off massively hot, and as they start going into qualifying, the track temperature drops coz of no sun.”
Hill declared that the tires are going to be the focal point throughout the race. He, however, also pointed out the Brackley-based outfit's astonishing performance at Silverstone (high downforce track at some turns), saying:
“I mean they went very well at Silverstone. They were pretty competitive at Silverstone which is really high downforce. So you know...”
Mercedes have performed decently on high downforce tracks this year. Singapore falls under the same category. Nothing can be said with certainty, however, as the team has also delivered some shocking results. Since Silverstone, the Silver Arrows haven't been able to recreate a similar competitiveness elsewhere.
Further, Singapore is expected to be the hardest race of the year. Under hefty physical exhaustion and dehydrating conditions, it's hard to expect the team to win with only the third or second-fastest car. Moreover, no bumpy track has brought out the best in their car this year (eg. Monaco GP).
George Russell has low hopes of a Mercedes win in Singapore
George Russell has announced that Mercedes might struggle on the Marina Bay circuit this weekend. He claimed that the team is likely to be uncompetitive given their record on street circuits this year.
Pointing out the lack of trophies on any street circuit in 2022, he said:
“I’m not too sure; there’s no stand-outs that really spring to mind. Singapore could be interesting, but historically it’s a circuit where Mercedes have struggled a little bit, and we know at street circuits this year we haven’t fared so well.”
The Silver Arrows have seen mixed results on such circuits, though. They were very competitive on the last high downforce circuit in Zandvoort. The team's track record in Singapore, however, is indeed not great.
Nothing can be predicted with surety as many still expect the Silver Arrows to perform at the Marina Bay Circuit. Still trailing a race win, this weekend could be very interesting for the team.
