Hamilton and Russell react to ‘frustrating’ Singapore GP

Both Mercedes drivers endured a difficult and at times ‘frustrating’ Grand Prix in Singapore, with George Russell coming home fourth and Lewis Hamilton sixth. After a strong qualifying where they had locked out the second row on the grid, the race just didn’t go to plan for the Silver Arrows.

They were the only top running team to split strategies, with Russell beginning the race on the favoured medium tyre while Hamilton gambled on a set of the softs.

But that strategy soon backfired, with Hamilton unable to use those off the line to get ahead of either Max Verstappen or Lando Norris ahead of him. Instead he was forced to pit earlier than he would have like to fit hards. He had arguably also held his team mate up in the opening stint, an unwanted side effect of those split strategies.

After his pit stop, Hamilton's race was all about where he could recover to and whether he could make his tyres last to the finish, in the end coming home sixth having been overtaken by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari late on. As for Russell, he just about managed to hold off Leclerc on the final lap, to come home where he started.

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 22: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG — Hamilton initially led his team mate around in Singapore

“After a very difficult Friday, we would have likely taken P4 in the Grand Prix,” Russell said. “Our pace in qualifying however made us believe we could achieve more. Today was no doubt a difficult race for us, both challenging in terms of our pace but also physically.

“The McLarens were very impressive and in another league to us, whilst Max [Verstappen] had the legs on us. We were able to hold off the Ferrari of Charles in the closing stages, so it was very much an evening of damage limitation. Given the pace of the car, that was the very best we could have achieved.”

Russell looked visibly drained in the aftermath of a tough and gruelling race, calling his cockpit a "sauna" midway through the evening. The race was made more difficult by the fact there was no Safety Car for the first time in Singapore’s history. That gave the drivers no respite across the 62-lap outing, the effort of defending late on from the charging Ferrari clearly taking its toll on the Brit.

Hamilton likewise was left exhausted by a race in which he had to fight his way back through the midfield after his earlier than ideal pit stop to get rid of the soft tyres, with only Daniel Ricciardo also trying the unfavoured alternate strategy for RB.

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 22: Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Ferrari SF-24 and — Russell managed to hold Leclerc off in the closing stages to come home ahead of the Ferrari

“It is hard to describe the range of emotions you feel when we have a difficult race like that,” Hamilton said. “This year continues to be a testing one for everyone, but we are all pushing as hard as we can. We don’t always get things right and that was the case today with our strategy.

“We have lost some form to the leaders in the past few races and we’re working hard to figure out why that is.”

After winning three of the last four races heading into the summer break, Mercedes have taken just one podium in the four races since the season resumed – and that a lucky one, Russell standing on the rostrum in Baku courtesy of the late crash between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz.

The good news for the team is that upgrades are coming for Austin, but right now in the wake of another disappointing race, that is scant consolation after what Team Principal Toto Wolff called a “painful” night in Singapore.