Hamilton: No race car has ever been so difficult to set up

Lewis Hamilton has said that he has never driven a car as difficult to set up as this year's W1 in his F14 career.

Despite Max Verstappen's surprise exit in Q2, the Briton finished fifth in qualifying in Singapore, half a second behind Carlos Sainz, who will start the race from pole position, just ahead of George Russell, another Mercedes driver. "I am happy for Georg," he said. "He did his job well. He has been connected to the racing car for the whole weekend."

Hamilton admitted that the change in settings after Friday's practice did not work for him and added that no car he has driven in F1 has been so difficult to set up. With Russell not having these problems in Singapore, Hamilton believes his team-mate can win the race, especially since he has an extra set of unused medium hard tires in stock. But Sam does not know how the new settings will perform throughout the race. "I'll see what I can do. If I can make it higher, that will be very good. On Friday, the car was good in the race simulation, but then we changed the settings overnight, so I don't know what will happen in the race.”

Photos: Mercedes