Lewis Hamilton thinks he’ll have to “roll the dice” at the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix this weekend because he’s concerned about the competitiveness of his Mercedes W15.Hamilton feels the vehicle is not well adapted to street courses and that Ferrari will be in top form after doing so well in Baku.
The former World Champion has had three challenging weekends since winning in Spa before the summer break.The team has been switching between its old and new floor specifications, with the older version back in use this weekend.
The four-time Singapore GP champion is wary about his chances this weekend.When questioned about his chances, he stated they were likely to be similar to previous races. “It hasn’t been fantastic for a while. I do not know.
I’m simply going to roll the dice and see what happens.”I wouldn’t say this has ever been a particularly good track for me; it has been a bit of a stumbling block for us in general.”I believe that the way we construct cars, or have created cars, has never been especially great on city circuits, whereas larger open courses would be preferable.
“And then when we come to places like Silverstone, we’re quite powerful. So I believe there are many valuable lessons to be learned from those, but it is ultimately difficult to monitor like this.
“When asked what had changed in the vehicle since his Spa in Hamilton, he explained that it was more a question of opponents improving.”I don’t think things have changed. “I believe the others have gained,” he stated. “We have not brought enough. We brought an upgrade to Spa but didn’t use it.
Then, I believe, the others from Zandvoort to Monza have improved, notably Ferrari. And I believe McLaren has as well.Hamilton made some interesting notes regarding how difficult it is to drive the W15 at the limit.I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I don’t think it’s because I can’t access it,” he remarked.
“It’s simply that our envelope is on a knife-edge.”You’ll be in the braking zone, and the rear will be out of the window, then in the middle of the turn, or just before the apex, it’ll be in the window, and then out again.I believe it has been one of the most difficult moments, at least for my engineers. It’s been a really difficult time trying to fit this automobile into the perfect window.