In an otherwise disappointing Saturday for Ferrari at the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore, the only positive aspect is probably the confirmation that Lewis Hamilton’s feeling with the SF-25 continues to improve. The seven-time world champion has reiterated this himself, and his performances confirm it, even as they also highlight the limitations of the current car. Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver in Q1, but over the remainder of the session he could not improve as much as his rivals, shaving only a tenth off his time and finishing sixth.
Hamilton: “Many factors prevented us from optimizing the session”
Lewis Hamilton explained how his Q1 time had raised hopes of a strong result: “I think the pace was there. This weekend I felt good in the car, I just think we didn’t optimize the sessions. Today the car had potential, but our session wasn’t linear and we couldn’t show our pace when it mattered. We saw the first run in Q1, I felt really strong and thought we could fight for the top positions.”
The seven-time champion then highlighted the factors that slowed Ferrari down in the rest of qualifying: “Then there’s the way the program is executed, the waiting times in the pit lane, and the tire temperature issue, even using a tire for just one lap and then coming back in. In the final phase, we struggled to get the tires into the right window, and this limited what we could do. All these things prevent the session from being fully optimized as it develops, so these are areas we need to work on to try and make the sessions more effective.”
On teamwork, the British driver added: “We’ll discuss it. Everyone is working as best as possible, but we also need to pay a bit more attention to what others are doing.”
Low expectations heading into the race
Looking at it from a personal perspective, Lewis Hamilton is satisfied with his driving feel, but the overall result remains disappointing: “I definitely feel more comfortable in the car. I mean, I think I drove really well this weekend. I was very happy with my performance in the car, but I think P6 isn’t good. I strongly believe we should have been further forward. It was just a tire temperature issue, and this happens almost every week.”
The British driver will start behind the two Mercedes, Max Verstappen, and the two McLarens, and he expressed little confidence in improving his position in the race: “Like almost all other teams, we also couldn’t complete proper long runs, so we will face tomorrow’s race with less information than we would have liked. I think tomorrow will be tough; overtaking here isn’t easy, but the race is long. From where we are, there’s not much we can do for now.”
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