Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff revealed both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were “overheating” after both drivers skipped Formula 1 media obligations following the Singapore Grand Prix.
The championship’s governing body, the FIA, accepted Mercedes’ request for the drivers not to face the media due to their conditions after a gruelling 62 laps at the Marina Bay circuit – the first time since F1 started racing at the venue that the race was not broken up by a safety car intervention.
That meant drivers were afforded no respite from the typically hot and humid conditions, with Russell describing his cockpit as a sauna over team radio in the closing stages.
Addressing his driver pairing’s health, Wolff said: “They are both suffering from overheating but they are fine now. They put themselves in the ice baths and I think that helped a bit.”
Hamilton finished sixth from third on the grid, with a set of soft tyres for his first stint proving a stumbling block for his race. Russell finished fourth, albeit over a minute down on eventual race winner Lando Norris.
Conceding that Mercedes “read the race wrong”, Wolff explained the reasoning behind the decision to start Hamilton on the red-walled soft tyres – a compound only used by Daniel Ricciardo at the start of the race.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, talks to the media in the media pen
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“We took a decision based on historic Singapore races where it is basically a procession, Monaco-like, and that the soft tyre would give him an opportunity at the start,” said Wolff.
“That was pretty much the only overtaking opportunity. That was the wrong decision that we all took together jointly.
“It felt like a good offset but with the rear tyre deg that we had it was just one way and that was backwards. So, there was a logic behind it but obviously, it was contrary to what we should’ve decided, but it doesn’t hide away from the fact that the car is too slow.
“It was a really painful evening. It is not about when you look at the positions, fourth and sixth, that is not good, especially when you are starting third and fourth.
“The car… we struggle at the moment at tracks that are hot and are tough on traction – here and Baku. But this is no excuse.
“It is just at the moment not what we expect from ourselves because if your quickest car is a minute behind the leader it is just difficult to accept.”
