The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
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Hamilton gift-wrapped victory to Nico Rosberg, his sole title rival, at the last race in Italy following his fourth sluggish start of the campaign.
“I feel we can do a good weekend if we get the most out of the vehicle”. This track was has been good for us past year, in general we improved the vehicle, then it should be a good track for us again.
“If you gauge my season then the championship could be lost through starts”, said Hamilton.
Rosberg had surged to a 43-point lead over Hamilton at the start of the season before the Briton won six of seven races to seize the momentum going into Formula One’s traditional summer break with a healthy 19-point cushion.
“I don’t expect to be handed a victory, but I feel if I work very well across that weekend then it should be a chance”.
While Rosberg, who is just two points adrift of Hamilton in the championship after winning the last two races, was able to limp back to the pits, his error is unlikely to have aided his confidence at a circuit where he has failed to record a top-three finish since 2008.
Mercedes struggled at this circuit previous year, failing to get the tyres working.
Alonso and Hamilton tried out the halo, and Hamilton still had it on his Mercedes when he clocked a 1:47.436, cutting exactly half a second of teammate Rosberg’s time of 1:47.936.
“Deep down, we obviously want to win, and we are winners”, Ricciardo said.
American Chase, flanked by the sport’s chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, said: “At this point I am asking questions, and not providing answers”.
The Singapore street circuit, which demands high downforce and low speed, suits his RB12 and has proved fruitful in the past – having finished third in 2014 and second in 2015.
“It definitely doesn’t look good but when we go back to that 17 percent it’s better than nothing”.
The prospect of what is arguably Mercedes’ toughest race of the season awaits this weekend on a Singapore track that features 23 corners and limited straights, which would, hypothetically, lessen the influence of Mercedes’ powerful engine, which has the advantage over Red Bull’s Renault. “We had a small hydraulic issue at the end of FP2 but it doesn’t look like anything serious”. “It’s hard for me to say now that we will be the No. 1 team this weekend, because we haven’t had a chance to race here yet”.
“That’s what I do racing for, for battles like that, and Lewis, of course, is the [defending] world champion”.
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Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene admitted it had been a disappointing season so far, but believed his team would be a force in the remaining races.
