Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will be next to each other at the start of the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday. The Mercedes duo had monopolized the second row in Saturday's qualifying, with Hamilton third and Russell fourth.
Depending on which team member you spoke to and when, it was either a disappointing result or something we absolutely dreamed of earlier this week.
Russell in particular highlighted those pros and cons in the team's post-qualifying report.
“If you had told me yesterday that I would be on the second row of the grid in qualifying I would certainly have accepted it, but given the improvement last night and the feeling of the car in FP3 I would have reconsidered,” Russell began.
“I felt very confident in the car and everything was going well, but then that feeling was gone in Q1 and it was tough to get fourth,” Russell continued. “I struggled with a lack of grip through each segment and just managed to get through to Q3, but once I got there I put in some decent laps and all in all I won't be disappointed at the end of the day.”
During the first segment of qualifying, Russell almost seemed to panic about his W15's tyres as he struggled to find grip on the circuit, but by the end of Q3 he had worked his way up to fourth place.
Ferrari's struggles may have also played a role, as a heavy crash by Carlos Sainz Jr. at the start of Q3 ended qualifying and brought out the red flag on track. When qualifying resumed, each driver was given the full time for one lap, with Charles Leclerc having his mileage cancelled for exceeding the track limits.
Hamilton, meanwhile, qualified third, a result he was pleased with given his struggles in qualifying this season.
“We've been working hard to improve our qualifying performance and get back on top on Saturday. The car came alive today and it was my best Saturday in a while,” Hamilton said in his team report. “It felt great. It was difficult having only one lap in Q3 after the red flag and maybe the car still had a bit more room, but overall I'm really happy with what we achieved today.”
Hamilton detailed how pleased he found the outcome to be. FIA press conference After the qualifying rounds ended.
“I mean, just being here with these guys [pole-sitter Lando Norris and Max Verstappen]Great drivers. I haven't been here for a while and qualifying has been a nightmare for a long time for sure.” Hamilton said after the session.“So it feels great to be here. I'm very grateful and very happy. And George and I are on the second row so hopefully we can put the pressure on them from here and get ahead of McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari, which would be amazing, especially considering how fast Ferrari are here. So hopefully we can catch them tomorrow.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff echoed the sentiment that it has been an up-and-down weekend so far for the team.
“After a tough Friday we would absolutely have accepted and been happy to have secured the second row on the grid for tomorrow's race, but given the progress we made with the car last night and the pace we showed in FP3 afterwards, third and fourth feels a bit unsatisfying,” Wolff said. “Having said that, it's not a bad place to start the race.”
The Mercedes boss expects further “variations” to the race itself.
“The fluctuation in performance between Friday and Saturday is affecting a lot of teams, which is strange,” Wolff said. “Ferrari took a bit of a step back today, but Max [Verstappen] We have taken a step forward with ourselves.
“I expect we'll see more of these fluctuations tomorrow. Hopefully the work we've been doing since Friday to improve the car will be reflected in our race pace and give us a competitive chance on Sunday to fight for the podium.”
