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Lewis Hamilton believes the Mercedes W13 has its own 'moods' when it comes to its performance and operational window. The Briton explained that their car has been unpredictable and was unsure why it suited him more than George Russell in Singapore.
Lewis Hamilton was asked by Sportskeeda about the reasons behind how he managed to warm his tires quicker than others, including his teammate George Russell. The Briton replied:
"I can't speak for George. I don't know what happened with him in the session but again, I don't know why, the car was, we're just working. You arrive one weekend and it doesn't work, you have no idea why and then other weekends it does, and then one session it works and it just depends what mood the car’s in, I guess. But today, it was good that we're able to get temperature in the tyres and that enabled us to have the confidence to push and fight with these guys. So it was definitely tricky, though. Definitely wasn't anywhere near easy to keep up with their sort of pace. They're always so quick, these guys."
In qualifying for the third spot on the grid for the 2022 F1 Singapore GP, the Briton was able to get his tires heated quicker than the others. Answering Sportskeeda in the post-qualifying press conference, Lewis Hamilton was unable to pinpoint a particular reason why he was stronger on the Marina Bay circuit than his teammate George Russell.
Asked about the difference between him and Russell's performance this weekend, the British champion felt the Mercedes W13 could be moody with its working window, performing well at some tracks and not at others. In a surprise performance, the Mercedes champion managed his quickest lap within a tenth of a second of the Ferrari and the Red Bull up front.
Lewis Hamilton believes his car was not in a mood to replicate 2018 F1 Singapore GP lap
Lewis Hamilton was surprised that third place is the highest he has qualified in the 2022 F1 season. The Briton felt his Mercedes was unable to perform with the same agility around the Marina Bay circuit as his previous car did in 2018.
Explaining his performance in qualifying, the Mercedes driver said:
"This is the highest I've qualified? I didn’t realise! Oh, it was incredibly close. And a really exciting session in general. The car felt a lot better today. We did a lot of great work overnight, back at the factory, but also here and a really clean qualifying session. And obviously, competing for front row constantly. So, I think at the end, it was so difficult to get that lap perfect."
"And I was hoping for some sort of lap like 2018 but the car definitely doesn't want to drive like that one, so you know, I gave it everything. And to be so close between a top three, I think is still great. So, let's hope we can do something in the race tomorrow. It's very hard to overtake here, but maybe we can have a better strategy than these guys."
According to the Mercedes driver, they made some setup changes overnight to make the car suit the circuit which worked well for him. While Lewis Hamilton is expecting to use strategy to counter Red Bull and Ferrari during the race, it is uncertain what the Mercedes race pace will look like at the Marina Bay circuit.
