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‘The car came alive’ says Hamilton as he puts qualifying ‘disasters’ behind him with P3 on the grid in Singapore
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Lewis Hamilton was thrilled to bounce back from his recent struggles in qualifying to take P3 for the Singapore Grand Prix, marking his best Saturday performance since his P2 grid slot at Silverstone back in July.
With Mercedes seemingly struggling to recapture their mid-season winning form across recent races, Hamilton’s weekend at the Marina Bay Street Circuit got off to a challenging start as he faced balance issues in Friday’s practice sessions, leading the seven-time world champion to predict that he would not be going into Q3.
READ MORE: Norris beats Verstappen to pole for Singapore GP after Sainz crashes out
However, the Briton’s fortunes looked to have reversed come qualifying, where he not only reached the final segment but set the third fastest time, meaning that he and team mate George Russell will lock out the second row in P3 and P4 respectively.
Amid huge cheers from the crowd, Hamilton was asked after jumping out of the car about how happy he felt with the result following on from his difficulties in free practice.
“Firstly the crowd has been incredible today, when we did the fan forum here – huge thank you to everyone for the support,” the 39-year-old started by saying. “So many of my followers have travelled here from all over so I’m really grateful.”
Hamilton went on to describe the effort that has gone into addressing his issues in qualifying as he continued: “Qualifying has been a disaster for me all year long, and I’ve just been working and working and working and trying to get myself back up there, and all of a sudden the car came alive in qualifying for the first time in a long time.
'Finally I've got a car I can fight with' - P3 Hamilton happy after Singapore qualifying
“It’s a little bit of a shame [about the red flag in Q3] because we were getting into a rhythm, it was the same for all of us, but getting that lap at the end was a little bit tricky. But I think there was maybe a tiny bit more left in the car, but I’m really grateful for it.
“We’ve been moving up and down on balance, we’ve changed everything this weekend on each day and the mechanics have just been faultless, so I want to say a big thank you to them and I hope that we’re in a good position to fight for the front tomorrow.”
In terms of whether those car changes will translate to good race pace on Sunday, Hamilton admitted: “That, I have no idea! One day at a time. It was a lot better today, it was the first time we had any front end.
“We’ve seen it, the McLarens have been so quick each weekend. I don’t know, I think with management I’m hoping we can try and keep up with these guys [McLaren pole-sitter Lando Norris and Red Bull's Max Verstappen in P2]. Maybe not the McLarens, but we’ll be giving it everything.”
Russell, meanwhile, had a rollercoaster day in Singapore, having displayed good pace in FP3 before finding himself at risk of being eliminated during Q1 and Q2 of qualifying and then recovering in Q3 to take fourth place.
“Oh my goodness, it was so strange,” Russell reflected on the ups and downs of his day. “In FP3 I felt super-confident, the car was feeling great, the tyres were feeling great and everything came easily.
Russell reckons P4 on the grid represents ‘ultimately a really good recovery’
“I thought we were on course for a front row here, had a good amount of margin to the rest of the field. And then I went out in Q1 and I was almost knocked out, went out in Q2 and I was almost knocked out, lost all confidence, I had no grip.
“Then Q3 I managed to do a reasonable lap and ultimately a really good recovery, because we were on course for not being anywhere near the front, and now here we are starting from the second row.
“I would have loved to have been second, but I qualified second last year and ended up in the wall, so I’m not too fussed about P4.”
Pushed on whether he is confident of being able to go on the attack come race day – where Lando Norris and Max Verstappen will start ahead of the Mercedes pair on the front row, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri will be behind in fifth – Russell answered: “Yeah, I think so.
“I think Lando – if he’s leading after Lap 1 – will just drive off into the distance, and then the fight will be with Max and Piastri.
“I think it’s going to be difficult for the Ferraris as they’re quite out of place, and we’ve got to take the positives – they were probably favourites along with Lando ahead of this weekend and they’re on the back part of Q3. It’s a little bit disappointing [to be P4] now, but I’ll take the positives that we’re in a good place.”
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