AFTER qualifying down in fifth place for the Singapore GP, Lewis Hamilton was quick to pinpoint just what it is that has been vexing Mercedes this weekend.
“Tyres,” the world champion told Sky Sports F1 after setting a time 1.5s slower than that managed by polesitter Sebastian Vettel.
“I don’t know really what we’ve got wrong but big congratulations to the guys up ahead.”
Hamilton had been hoping to equal Ayrton Senna’s record of eight consecutive poles but Mercedes have been behind Ferrari and Red Bull all weekend at the Marina Bay Circuit.
That’s how it turned out on Saturday too, with Daniel Ricciardo qualifying his Red Bull second behind Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari next up ahead of Daniil Kvyat’s Red Bull.
Hamilton seemed relaxed about Mercedes’ reversal of fortunes this weekend, although that could be something to do with the fact that team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg qualified behind him once again in sixth place.
“To be honest it’s been exciting to be having that fight. It’s the first time we’ve gone into qualifying pulling even more out of the car if you can — and therefore sometimes making mistakes,” Hamilton said.
“It was actually really challenging and these tyres for some reason aren’t working on our car. It’s so weird: you heat them up the same as everyone else, you do your warm-up lap the same as everyone else.
“Then you finish your lap, which you think will be okay grip and then you see someone else a second up the road. So it’s very strange.”
A number of theories have been put forward to try and explain Mercedes’ sudden loss of form, such as a need to reduce engine performance in the tropical heat for reliability reasons, and also that their rear tyres might be overheating.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1 during the session, Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert wondered whether changes to Pirelli’s minimum pressures — 18PSI for the front tyres and 17PSI for the rears, higher than last year - were having an effect on Mercedes’ set ups.
Hamilton said they’re struggling with both prime and option tyres but didn’t think that fallout from his Italian GP win — which he almost lost because of tyre pressure irregularities — was a factor.
Senna’s tally of 41 wins from 161 starts could also be equalled this weekend, but Hamilton isn’t optimistic he can match his hero.
“The goal’s to still win the race,” he added, “but it’s very hard to overtake here and the others, particularly the Red Bulls, were incredibly quick through the long runs.
“It is what it is. We’ll fight as hard as we can but I doubt we’ll find something between now and tomorrow. But if we do, great.”
Rosberg, meanwhile, said it was “unbelievable” for Mercedes to find themselves so far behind their rivals.
“I can’t remember the last time I was 1.5 seconds off the pace, it must be years ago!” the German said. “It is incredible and we don’t understand.
“I made set up changes the whole weekend, but in all different directions, big changes. I’ve gone full-circle, I started with something, went all the way round and went back to what I started with for qualifying as that was best.”
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