“Singapore was a strange weekend but I'm chilled about it,” world champion says
Tuesday 29 September 2015 10:35, UK
After Mercedes’ “strange” weekend in Singapore, Lewis Hamilton is keen to get back in the groove at the Japanese GP this weekend on a Suzuka track the team say should suit them better.
The Silver Arrows might usually be F1's pacesetters but they were beaten fair and square by Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari on Sunday, with Red Bull also quicker.
Hamilton eventually retired from the race - his first DNF this season - and with team-mate Nico Rosberg finishing fourth, the defending world champion's lead in this year's title race was cut to 41 points.
The question ahead of Sunday's race is whether Mercedes' lack of form was a one-off; speaking in a team preview for the Japanese GP, Hamilton gave the impression that he thinks so.
"Singapore was a strange weekend but I'm chilled about it," he said. "It's been an incredible season so far and I've been around long enough now to accept that you can't win them all. So, it's just a case of leaving that weekend in the past and moving on to the next one."
Hamilton added: "It was great to finally win there last year and that's the target again."
Team boss Toto Wolff acknowledged that Mercedes' rivals have improved but expects a better performance this time.
"The performance in Singapore was far below expectations and left us with plenty to think about moving forwards. But move forward is what we will do. We remain calm, learn our lessons and use the pain of those disappointments as motivation to get back on top," he said.
"One bad weekend does not negate what has been an incredible season so far and we know our car is competitive. But we also recognise the constant threat from our rivals.
"Whether Singapore was a blip or not, we cannot take our position at the front for granted and expect not to get caught out. Suzuka is a track which should suit us better, so this will be a good indicator."
Mercedes' lack of performance in Singapore remains a mystery, but Hamilton said after qualifying fifth, 1.5s slower than Vettel, that his car lacked grip and the team are confident their problems were track-specific.
"Clearly, Singapore didn't deliver the result we would have liked," technical director Paddy Lowe added. "We didn't do a good enough job of getting the best out of our car and, at the same time, we don't automatically assume our car was capable of winning that race even if we had done so, as our competitors looked extremely strong.
"So, we came away from the weekend with plenty to analyse to ensure we come back in better shape for the future."
