Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said that both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell overheated and that was the reason why both drivers skipped media duties after the Singapore Grand Prix, but noted that it was difficult to accept that their first W15 in a GP Singaporean was a full minute slower than race winner Lando Norris.
Motorsport’s governing body accepted Mercedes’ request that the drivers not face the media because of the conditions they were in after a grueling 62 laps at the Marina Bay circuit – the first time since F1 began racing at the venue that a race had not been interrupted by the intervention of a safety car.
This meant the drivers had no respite from the typically hot and humid conditions, with Russell describing his cockpit as a sauna over the radio in the closing stages. Speaking about the health of his driver line-up, Wolff said: “They are both suffering from overheating, but they are fine now. They put themselves in ice baths, and that helped a little.”
Hamilton finished sixth after starting from third place, and started the race on soft tires, which was a stumbling block for his race. Russell finished fourth, though more than a minute behind race winner Lando Norris.
Admitting that Mercedes “misread the race”, Wolff explained the reasons behind Hamilton’s decision to start on soft tires – a compound that only Daniel Ricciardo used at the start of the race.
“We made the decision based on the historic races in Singapore where it’s basically a procession, like Monaco, and that the soft rubber will give him a chance at the start,” Wolff said.
“That was almost the only opportunity to overtake. It was a wrong decision that we all made together. I felt like it was a good shift, but with the tread of the rear tires that we had, it was only going one way, and that was backwards. So, there was logic behind it, but obviously, it was against what we should have decided, but it does not hide from the fact that the car is too slow,” he pointed out.
“It was a really painful evening. It’s not about when you look at positions, fourth and sixth, that’s not good, especially when you start third and fourth. Car… we are currently struggling on tracks that are hot and difficult for traction – here and in Baku. But that’s no excuse.”
“That’s not what we expect from ourselves at the moment because if your fastest car is a minute behind the leader, that’s just hard to accept,” added Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
