Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has praised the track changes for 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, following a strong Friday Practice.
Due to redevelopment of the floating platform, the old Turns 16, 17, 18 and 19 corners have been removed and replaced by a straight out of Turn 15 through to the original Turn 20 – which is now the new Turn 16 following the changes.
Hamilton consequently enjoyed two strong Friday Practice sessions with fifth-placed finishes and post FP2, he was happy with the track layout as he explained: “They have done an amazing job with the track changes; I love driving this circuit now more than ever.
“The new track surface is great, and it made the track even more enjoyable to drive. Then the removal of the four corners near the end of the lap has absolutely perfected the circuit. It’s incredible to drive.”
Hamilton went on to sum up his running as “solid” despite feeling that he was “still a little bit of where we wanted to be,” after FP1 but is feeling “positive” that he can fight for a top-five grid slot in Qualifying.
“I think we’ve got a good platform to build off for the rest of the weekend. It’s the best I’ve felt from a Friday this year, so I hope we can do some good work overnight, as we always tend to do, and continue to improve.”
Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin however was slightly bullish about their chances as he iterated that Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin will provide “interesting” competition throughout the weekend,
Red Bull meanwhile struggled for pace throughout both sessions but Shovlin expects them to be in the mix come Qualifying which looks set to be close, as he said: “We’ll assume that they’ll sort that out for tomorrow, which is going to mean that a lot of drivers are fighting for the top grid spots.
“It’s clearly very close so we’ll be pushing to find every little bit of pace overnight. We’re looking forward to an exciting qualifying session tomorrow.”
Discussion about this post